Metal Gear: Resurrection
by GameTitan5
Summary: Twenty years have passed since The Patriots were shut down by the efforts of Solid Snake and his comrades. Now, a new generation of soldiers rise to make a name for themselves to try and outshine the legend of Solid Snake, and also combat forces that wishes to threaten global security and bring back haunting memories that America wishes to forget.
1. Chapter 1: The Rookie Soldier

**Disclaimer- I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.**

"I've wanted to join the military since I was little." A young man thought to himself as he marched with nine other young men and women down a military compound to the quart yard.

"I've always wanted to feel like I was making some sort of difference in the world even though all of this worlds nations and countries have known almost twenty years of peace." He continued thinking.

"And most of all, I wanted to have the chance, or at least try to, to meet my childhood hero, Solid Snake. But unfortunately, I never got the chance to. He passed away before I was even old enough to register for the military." The young man continued to think.

"But now, I, along with many others, have been chosen to participate in some sort of test or exam. I don't know what's going on, but it must be important if they chose the top ten rookies to take part in this." He thought as he continued marching with nine others before stopping and turned to the right to face their drill sergeant, who had a red headed woman standing beside him. The woman eyed each and every one of the ten rookies before her eyes landed on the young man, and for a brief moment she looked shocked, surprised even, before quickly regaining her composure.

The drill sergeant took one step forward and began to speak.

"Cadets! All ten of you have been gathered here today to take part in a special test to see if one of you have what it takes to be part of the Stealth Unit! All of you are at the top of your class! So it's only fitting for you to know who this woman behind me is, and why exactly she is here besides finding new recruits for U.S armies Stealth Unit! Allow me to introduce you to Meryl Silverburgh!" The drill sergeant shouts and steps back as Meryl steps forward to address the ten rookies.

All ten rookies keep quiet as Meryl steps close to all of them before she smiles.

"Judging by your silence, I assume you all know who I am?" She asks.

"Yes ma'am!" They all shout. Meryl smiles wider and nods.

"Good. Then this will be easier for all of us." She says before losing her smile and gains a serious look on her face before pacing back and forth while addressing the rookies.

"You all know who I am. You all know what I'm capable of and the things I've done in the past. Well, you should also know who I was friends with before he passed away." She begins while pacing and keeping an eye on all ten rookies in front of her.

"And in case you all don't know I am no longer an active soldier, I am an active mother and wife to my family, but because of my reputation and relationship to a certain legendary hero, the president and others in the White House have asked me to oversee this test to recruit the one person who will rise above the rest. That person... is one of you." She said as she stops and points to all ten of the rookies. They all look at each other in confusion before looking back at Meryl, who had begun pacing again.

"Now, I know what you're all thinking. Is there really going to be a test? Or, what does this special test have to do with anything?" She says before stopping to look at them all again.

"And my answer is, yes, there is going to be a test, but not a test that you're thinking about. Not exactly at least. And my other answer is, everything. This test has to do with EVERYTHING." She answers while looking at them. They all look at each other in confusion again, except one. And Meryl could see that, because he was looking right at her.

The nine rookies whispered to each other before Meryl spoke up, silencing them.

"Quick question for all of you. You all know who I am, but do you have any idea of who I'm talking about when I said I was friends with a legendary hero?" She asks. The rookies look to each other to come up with an answer but they all shake their heads, not knowing who Meryl was talking about, even though they should.

But the young man raised his hand while keeping his gaze on Meryl. She points to him before walking up to him. She stops in front of the young man and stares back into his hazel yellow eyes while he stared into her sapphire blue eyes.

"What's your name, kid?" She asks him.

"Adam Eagles, ma'am." He answers. Meryl nods and smiles before speaking again.

"Adam, who is the legendary hero I'm talking about?" She asks him as they both stare each other down.

Adam waits for a moment before he answers.

"The man you're talking about, Mrs. Silverburgh, is Solid Snake." He answers. Meryl nods before taking a step back to speak again.

"That's correct. The man I'm talking about is the legendary Solid Snake. I'm actually genuinely surprised that nine of you didn't know who I was talking about." She says while pacing back and forth once again.

One of the rookies raises her hand, Meryl notices her and and points to her for the young woman to speak.

"Mrs. Silverburgh, if the man your talking about is Solid Snake, then what does he have to do with us?" She asks. Meryl nods and stops again while looking at them all.

"Because this test is going to decide which one of you will be the next "Snake". All of you will be put through series of VR training that resembles situations that Snake went through while he was alive." She answers.

All the rookies look at each other and whisper except Adam, he just kept staring at Meryl, he was trying to show that he wasn't scared or afraid, but he was shaking in his boots. He gulped as multiple thoughts ran through his head.

"Jesus Christ, those are going to be big boots to fill if one of us passes this test. This... is going to be both interesting and frightening." He thought as he gulped again before Meryl began to speak again.

"Now, considering that nine of you had no idea who I was talking about, I will tell you all, including you Adam, what situations you will be put through in VR. The first major situation will be Solid Snake's first ever mission of his life, which is when he infiltrated Outer Heaven. The second is the Zanzibar Land Incident. The third is..." Meryl paused for a moment before inhaling to speak again.

"The third is the Shadow Moses Incident. The fourth will be both the Tanker Incident and the Big Shell Incident. And finally, the fifth major situation will be the Guns of the Patriots Incident." Meryl concluded while keeping an eye on the reactions of the "Snake" candidates.

Every single one of them looked terrified, and with good reason. Nine of them had no idea who Solid Snake was or what incidents he was a part of that he had to prevent, but then there's Adam. He knows perfectly well who Snake was and the incidents he took part in. So Adam knows full well what he's getting into. Yes, he's terrified, but he knows exactly what he needs to do in these VR training tests because he knows every piece of history that Snake was part of. But if he is to be the new "Snake" he will have to make his own decisions and live with all the choices he makes. He will have to eventually think, "What would Adam do?", not "What would Snake do?"

Meryl smiles faintly while subtlety keeping her eyes on Adam.

"The fact that he looks like Snake makes this even more interesting if he passes the tests and earns the title. I just hope he's up for the challenge." She thought before shaking her head slightly before she addressed the rookies again.

"Alright! Now that you know why you were summoned here today, we will give you one day to mentally prepare yourselves for these tests. Because they will take up five days to complete. Five tests, five days. So, all of you get some rest and prepare yourselves for tomorrow. After those five days one of you will have a much more different life once the tests are over. That is all for now. Dismissed!" Meryl said with both enthusiasm and worry for all of them.

They all saluted Meryl and the drill sergeant before turning on their heels to march back to their quarters.

"Adam, wait just a moment." Meryl called out.

Adam stopped and turned around to face Meryl with confusion on his face.

"Yes, ma'am?" He said as she walked up to him.

"Look, I know what you're thinking, and trust me when I say this, you're all going to be fine. Yes, this test may challenge you guys mentally and physically to see if you have what it takes, not just for the title of "Snake", but to see if you belong here." She said as Adam just listened while she continued.

"Taking tests is one thing, but taking a life and making difficult choices on the battlefield is another thing entirely. Trust me, Adam, you're all at the top of your class, but test scores don't mean anything when you're out in the field. You know that, don't you?" She asked him.

Adam nodded his head before he answered.

"Yes, ma'am, I do. I know what the job requires of people. Mrs. Silverburgh... I knew the risks when I signed up for this. And yeah, I'm still a cadet so I still have yet to experience the things you and Snake did during your time together as comrades. But this is what I signed up for, I know the risks, so there's no turning back now." Adam explained as Meryl just smiled with each word he spoke. She nodded before turning around to walk away, but Adam spoke again.

"Mrs. Silverburgh, don't think I didn't notice."

Meryl stopped and turned her head to look back at him.

"Notice what?" She asked.

"When we all lined up, you looked at all of us, but when your eyes landed on me you looked like you were shocked or surprised. Why?" Adam asked her curiously. Meryl smiled.

"Because you look like him, you know? David." She answered. Adam looked at her in confusion.

"Who?" He asked before Meryl laughed.

"David was Snakes real name. Not many people knew that. I don't even think Raiden knew. I think he knew him only by his code name. But that doesn't matter, we all knew him for what and who he really was, a hero. Even though he never thought he was, we all knew. So, that's why I looked surprised, you look a lot like him. Except for the eyes. His eyes were blue. Yours are more like a hazel yellow." She answered with a smile before she continued.

"And since I'm being honest here let me say this, I have hope for you Adam. I'm not picking favorites but I have hope for you. Your scores are way off the charts, but remember, test scores mean nothing on the battlefield. We'll see how well you and the others do tomorrow." She said as Adam nodded his head.

Meryl nodded as well.

"Now, go rest up Adam. You all have a big day tomorrow, so make sure you get as much rest as possible. I'll see you all tomorrow morning. Dismissed." She said before turning around to walk away with the drill sergeant.

Adam stood there for a moment longer before turning around and walk back to his quarters to rest up for upcoming VR tests in the morning.

"Let's see how all of this turns out." He thought as he walked.


	2. Chapter 2: The Test Begins

**Disclaimer- I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.**

 **Adam woke up early the next morning and decided to go to the building that the VR tests were going to take place. He walked outside to see a few other rookies getting up early as well. He nodded to each one he walked past to acknowledge them, while they did the same, as he headed towards the testing building. He walked in to see a young female intern sitting at the front desk. She looked up to see Adam walking then looked down at her watch before looking back up at him.**

"Adam, you're here early." She said to him. He smiled and nodded.

"Naturally, Amelia." He said as he reached the front desk.

Amelia looked at her watch again.

"Well, your test isn't for a few hours, so do you want to have a seat and wait?" She asked. Adam just nodded and quietly walked over to the nearby seats and sat down as Amelia went back to her paperwork.

2 hours later...

Adam had waited patiently for two hours for the tests to start but looked up to see the other nine candidates walk in and sit down to wait. Most of them looked like they hadn't slept well at all. Dark rings were evident under their eyes and they looked like they wanted to go back to bed and get some rest for a few more hours, but that wasn't going to happen as the drill sergeant walked into the room. They all quickly stood up and saluted him.

"At ease." He responded. They all put their hands down and stood still waiting for the tests to finally start.

"Are you all ready?" He asked them. They said nothing but nodded their heads. He nodded back and motioned for them to follow him further into the building.

He directed them each into different rooms and wished them all good luck on the tests as they walked into the rooms. Adam walked towards a chair with a male doctor or scientist standing near it and motioned for him to sit down in it. Adam did so and waited for the doctor/scientist to say something. He waited patiently for a moment until the doctor spoke.

"Now, I take it you've done VR training before?" He asked. Adam nodded before he answered.

"Yes, I have. Although it's not a method I would choose to do first." He said. The doctor nodded.

"Indeed. It's not a favorite method of other government officials either, but it's the only method to put people in situations that other soldiers have been through. In your case, Solid Snake. And that man, from what I understand, has seen and done many things." He said as he started to strap Adam into the chair.

Adam waited as the doctor strapped him in and heard a faint whirring above him. He looked up to see a VR headset lowering down. It stopped just a few inches from his face until the doctor took it in his hands and looked at Adam.

"Ok, you've been told what situations you'll be put through during the tests, correct?" He asked. Adam nodded.

"Yes. We've all been told." He answered. The doctor nodded and walked behind him and put the VR headset on Adams head and strapped it to make it sit firmly and comfortably on his head.

All Adam could see at the moment was darkness and he couldn't hear anything. He just sat there waiting for the test to start, and then words started to pop up in front of his eyes and a computer voice began to speak.

"VR training session will begin momentarily..."

Adam sat and waited patiently until the VR computer spoke again.

"First VR training session- Solid Snakes first mission as a Foxhound operative- 1995, Outer Heaven Uprising- beginning now."

Adam watched as his mind felt like it was transported into another dimension. He blinked and looked around him to see that he was standing in the Outer Heaven cargo area. He nodded and let out a shaky breath.

"Alright, here we go." He whispered. He crouched down and silently made his way over to a armored truck and his behind it.

-Radio Call-

Adam took his radio from his belt and held it up to his ear to hear a voice come from it.

"This is Big Boss, do you read me?" The voice of Big Boss asked through the radio. Adam let out a long breath before he answered.

"This is... Snake. I read you loud and clear, Big Boss." He said. It felt surreal to Adam talking to Big Boss and to call himself Snake, but he had to remind himself that this wasn't real. It was all a part of the VR training.

"Good. I'm giving you a quick reminder about your mission objectives. First, you are to locate the missing Foxhound operative Gray Fox and save him and any other hostages along the way. Second, you are to infiltrate the base Outer Heaven to locate and destroy the weapon, Metal Gear. Good luck, Snake."

-Radio Call End-

Adam nodded and put the radio back on his belt and let out another long breath.

"Ok, ok. This is happening, this is really happening, Adam. Get it together." He thought to himself before he got up from behind the armored truck and stealthily made his way further into the base to look for a weapon. It took him a while as he dodged and hid away from enemy VR soldiers before he finally found a 45. caliber hand gun, but he couldn't use it without a suppressor without risking or compromising his position. So he waited to use the gun until he found one.

One Hour Later...

Adam made his way further into the virtual Outer Heaven base to locate Gray Fox. And he was unsuccessful for the past hour, but he wasn't about to give up. After finding the hostages and releasing them, one of them let him know where his location was. Adam thanked the virtual hostage and headed to where Gray Fox was supposedly being held. After he found the door leading into the room that Gray Fox is supposed to be in, Adam attempted to open it, but then remembered that he needs a key card, which he currently didn't have, to get in. So he left the area to look for a key card in other places of the virtual base.

After sneaking past countless guards while looking for a key card, Adam finally found one that could get him into some places of the base, but not all. He will have to find another key card along the way to get him into more areas, but he just needed the one he currently has to bust Gray Fox out of his cell.

He made his way back to the room and used the key card to open the door. The door opened to reveal a man sitting on the floor with his head down.

"Gray Fox?" Adam called out quietly. Fox looked up at Adam and just stared at him. His silver hair seemed to look like it was glowing and his piercing blue eyes seemed to look straight through him, and it sent a chill up his spine.

"No wonder he was Big Boss's greatest soldier. This man has seen and been through a lot." He thought to himself before Fox spoke.

"Who's asking?" He asked him. Adam put his hands up to show that he wasn't a threat to him.

"I'm a Foxhound soldier, like you. They sent me here to find you and get the information you have on Metal Gear." He said while slowly walking closer to Fox. He suddenly perked up at the mention of Foxhound and Metal Gear, but then looked like he was let down.

"They sent you? You look like you're still green. They sent a rookie to help me?" He asked with a disappointed tone. Adam nodded as he knelt down in front of Fox.

"Yeah, I'm still a rookie, but they must have their reasons for sending me in here. Now, what information do you have on Metal Gear?" He asked.

Fox looked up at him and looked like he was about to speak and give him the information, but he glitched and froze before everything around Adam disappeared into digital pixels and turned into darkness once again.

"What the hell? Did I do something wrong?" He thought before he heard the computer voice once again.

"Phase One of Outer Heaven Uprising test complete. Moving on to Phase Two." The voice said before Adam felt his mind being transported, again, to another part of the test that was Phase Two. Everything around Adam formed into a room and he looked around before he turned around to see Metal Gear TX-55 behind him, but it wasn't active. He looked up to see what looked like two surveillance cameras behind it, but once they caught sight of Adam they fired a red laser at him.

Adam reacted quickly and dove behind cover. He peeked over what he was hiding behind to see if the laser cameras were still firing at him, but they weren't. He hid behind his cover spot to be safe.

"Phase Two? This must be the final phase of the first test. Taking down the Metal Gear." He thought as he looked around in his mini back pack to find something he could use to destroy Metal Gear TX-55.

"This Metal Gear never got the chance to be deployed, that's why it's being protected by those lasers. If I remember right, Snake used an explosive device to destroy it. C4 I think." He thought again before he pulled out a bundle of C4 explosives. He smiled before he looked at the laser cameras to time his movements and avoid being seen by them.

He placed the C4's on TX-55's key points before detonating them. The TX-55 exploded and fell apart while taking the laser cameras with it before it crashed to the ground. It was now nothing more than a fiery heap metal. Before Adam could celebrate and wait for the test to be over, an alarm sounded.

"ALERT! Outer Heaven self destruct sequence has been activated! Repeat, Outer Heaven self destruct sequence has been activated!" The voice announced before Adam ran out of the door that would lead up to the surface.

"I can't believe that I forgot about the most important part of this moment in Snake's history. After destroying TX-55, Snake rushed to get out of Outer Heaven, but he encountered-" Adam's thoughts were cut off as he ran into the next room to see the long deceased commander of Foxhound standing in his way.

"-Big Boss." He thought.

Big Boss stood in front of the only exit leading up to the surface. He glared at Adam before he spoke.

"Snake, you've ruined everything! I sent you in here so you could return to the mainland with false information, but you've ruined my plans! Now, I'm going to stop you here. I may die today, but I'm going to take you with me!" He shouted before firing his assault rifle at Adam, who had ducked behind cover to bring out his own assault rifle and started firing back at Big Boss.

They returned fire back and forth at each other for long moments of time, injuring each other as they did, before Adam delivered a fatal shot at Big Boss. He slumped to the ground near one of the big crates with his breathing shallow. Adam turned around to run out of the door leading to the surface, but stopped when he heard Big Boss speak again.

"I see. So... you've come to pick me up, then?" He said quietly. Adam watched in confusion as Big Boss took out a cigar and lit it up before taking a small puff and blowing it out. He looked up but he wasn't looking at Adam, it looked like he was staring at someone else. Someone that Adam couldn't see. It wasn't long before Big Boss spoke again.

"Then I guess... my battle really is over." He whispered before he closed his eyes and dropped the cigar.

Adam just stared at him in confusion before another alarm sounded and the whole room was flashing red. He then knew that he needed to haul his ass out of the room and back to the surface. He rushed out of the door to see a bright light and then felt a sudden rush of his mind being taken somewhere else.

The bright light dimmed and he felt himself back in the the VR chair, headset and all. He panted quickly as he felt the doctor taking off the headset to calm him down.

"Easy, easy. You're fine, Mr. Eagles. Breathe slowly. You're back in reality. You're going to be fine." He said calmly as Adam's breathing slowed down. His grip on the armrest loosened and he was starting to breathe normally again.

The doctor tilted his head to the side, still looking at Adam.

"You alright?" He asked. Adam said nothing but nodded his head before the doctor took off the straps and let him lean forward to breathe a little better and gain his composure. Adam was shaking, but not for long, before he stood up to look at the doctor.

"Well, how did I do?" He asked him. The doctor had his back turned to Adam, but he answered.

"Your test results will be revealed at the end of the week. Just go and rest up for now. You and the others have had a long day." He said. Adam looked confused.

"A long day? How long have I been in VR?" He asked the doctor. The doctor uncovered his watch before he answered.

"It is now twelve thirty in the afternoon. You're actually the first one out. The others are still taking their tests." The doctor said before looking at Adam.

"Go and rest up Mr. Eagles. Take the rest of the day off and prepare yourself for tomorrow." He said before looking back at the computer screen and writing down notes on his note pad.

Adam just nodded as walked to the door and was about to walk out but stopped when he remembered something about the test.

"Wait, I have one more question." He said. The doctor didn't look at him but acknowledged him anyway.

"Yes, what is it?" He asked.

"Big Boss's last words, what the hell was he talking about or who was he talking to? He was looking right at me but... he wasn't looking at "me". It looked like he was looking at someone else. Do you guys know anything about that?" He asked and the doctor froze and stopped writing on the note pad, but he quickly regained his composure and started to write again before he answered.

"No, I don't. Must've been a glitch in the programming. Don't think too much about it, Mr. Eagles. Have a good day." He said without even turning to look at Adam.

Adam narrowed his eyes but dropped the subject for now. He was too tired to even argue with anyone, let alone the doctor. He walked out of the room and too the waiting room, he waved at Amelia before walking out of the building. He walked down the steps and stopped to stretch before making his way to the mess hall, but that one thought still lingered in his mind. The look on Big Boss's face haunted Adam. Big Boss looked at Adam like he had just seen someone he hadn't seen or heard from in years, but he wasn't looking at him, he was looking at someone else, but who? That's the question.

"Who the hell was he looking at? It couldn't have been me because he was looking right through me. Did he hallucinate in his final moments? If so, who did he see?" Adam thought as he walked into the mess hall and grabbed a bite to eat. He sat down and thought about it a little more.

"I don't know what I'm going to see during these tests, but I do know that things are going to be even more interesting now. I just hope that I don't lose my mind and crumble under the pressure." He thought as he sighed and ate.

But the still lingering image of Big Boss's smile before he died haunted Adam to no end.


	3. Chapter 3: Test 2- Zanzibar Land

**Disclaimer- I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.**

Adam had just finished eating when he saw one of his fellow cadets walk in, and she looked shaken. Another one of his fellow cadets walked in not long after her, and he too looked shaken. The first test must have taken a toll on them already, but they still had four more to take, and Adam had no doubt that they would only get tougher. He watched them as they both grabbed their lunch trays and walked over to the table he was sitting at. They sat down and ate with their hands shaking the whole time.

It was an awkward silence with the three of them as the other cadets walked into the mess hall only moments later looking like they had seen better days, some looked worse than the others. They went to grab a bite but most of them didn't even bother to grab a bite to eat, they just sat down and laid their heads on the table. All ten of the cadets were now sitting at the same table, but none of them wanted to speak. One of them decided to change that.

"So, uh... how did the test go for you guys?" The cadet asked.

The others looked up at him.

"Seriously, Craig?" One of the female cadets asked him. The cadet, Craig, put his hands up and shrugged.

"What, Juno? I'm just curious." He said. They all shook their heads and just sat there in silence once again before Adam spoke.

"I have a question for you guys." He said as they all looked at him.

"What is it, Adam? Going to ask us how well we did so you can say how much better YOU did? Yeah, forget it pal." One of the other female cadets said sarcastically, while the other came to Adam's defense.

"Aw, lay off, Jennifer. You know Adam never gloats about his scores." She said before looking at him. "Go ahead, Adam."

Adam nodded and smiled.

"Thanks, Lynn. Now, as I was saying, I have a question. And what I want to know is, did you guys happen to see anything strange during the first test?" He asked them. They all looked at him with confused looks.

"What do you mean by strange?" Craig asked him.

"I mean, did you see how strange how Big Boss acted when you... killed him?" Adam asked them. They all still looked at him with confused looks. He shook his head in frustration and put his head in his hands.

Until Lynn spoke.

"Adam, you don't mean the moment where it seemed like he was looking at someone else, do you?" She asked. Adam popped his head up and nodded.

"Yes. That's exactly what I mean." He said. Lynn put her hands up to her arms and rubbed them.

"Yeah, it happened with me in the test too, and it sent shivers up my spine. It's like he was looking right through me. I didn't like it." She said with a shiver. Adam nodded again.

"Yeah, I know. I didn't like it either, but you want to know what kills me the most?" He asked. Lynn and the other cadets, who have remained silent, looked at him, curious as to what he was going to say next.

"What kills me is that I have absolutely no idea who he thought he was talking to." He admitted.

Craig looked even more confused at that.

"What do you mean, Adam?" He asked. They all nodded.

"Think about it, Craig. After Lynn and I defeated Big Boss, he looked at us both like we were someone he hadn't seen in years. Who did he know that he hasn't seen for many years?" He asked. They all looked at him and each other, but couldn't answer. So they shook their heads and shrugged their shoulders.

"Exactly." Adam said. All the cadets just looked at each other then back to Adam.

"So, what exactly are you going to do, Adam? I mean, it's not like we can just read Big Boss's mind and find out who he was talking to." Jennifer said with her arms crossed.

Adam nodded.

"I know that, Jennifer, but we can't just forget about it either." He said as most of them, including Lynn, nodded. Jennifer looked annoyed and stood up.

"Yeah, whatever. You guys can scratch your heads about this all you want. I, on the other hand, am going to go back to my bed quarters and get some rest. The next test is tomorrow and I want to be ready." She said before heading to walk out of the mess hall. The others nodded and stood up to walk out as well.

"That's actually a good idea. We better get some rest for tomorrow, Adam. We can figure this out later." Lynn said before standing up to walk out of the building.

Adam sat at the table a moment longer, while watching them all walk out of the mess hall before standing up to walk out himself.

Minutes later...

Adam walked into his bed quarters and took his clothes off to take a shower. After he showered he put on a pair of sweats and laid down to get some sleep, but that one thought still lingered in his head. And it did not stop until he finally drifted off to sleep.

Next morning...

Adam got up early, once again, the next morning and made his way to the building where the tests took place. He walked in the waiting room, waved to Amelia and sat down on one of the chairs to wait for the others and for the second test to start.

The rest of the candidates soon came in and sat down to wait with Adam for the second test to begin, it wasn't long after when the drill sergeant walked in and looked at them all. They all instantly stood at attention and saluted the sergeant.

"At ease." He said before he motioned them to follow him to the rooms where they will take the next test.

He wished them all good luck again as the doors closed, Adam then saw that he had someone different today. It was a woman with long blonde hair that was up in a ponytail. She turned to look at him and pointed at the chair.

"Please, have a seat." She said before looking back at the monitor screen. Adam walked over to the chair and sat down, waiting for the doctor to begin the test. A few moments later, Adam heard a faint whirring above him as he saw the VR headset lowering closer down to his head.

The female doctor took the headset and moved to stand behind Adam above his head.

"Alright, this is the second part of the test. Are you ready?" She asked. Adam nodded. She nodded as well before placing the headset on him and stepped away. Adam sat motionless for a few moments, waiting. And then...

Test #2- Zanzibar Land disturbance- December 24, 1999. The test will begin shortly. Please wait for VR simulation to begin.

The computer said as Adam sat and waited for his next test to start. And then Adam suddenly felt his mind being pulled again into the VR world.

He opened his eyes and looked around him.

"Ok. Zanzibar Land. Here we go." He thought to himself as he slowly stood up. He walked around cautiously looking out for any enemy soldiers while trying to find a way into Zanzibar's base of operations. Without a weapon on him, Adam finally found a way into the first building of Zanzibar's base. It wasn't long after that, he was contacted on his radio, he took out his radio and listened for any response.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" The person, who sounded like a woman, asked quietly. Adam responded. "Yes, I'm here. Who are you?" He asked. It took a moment before the woman spoke again. "My name is Holly White. I'm a CIA agent that was sent here under cover as a journalist." Holly answered.

Adam nodded his head before he quietly continued the conversation, trying to get as much information as he could to know about Holly, what was going on and how to keep moving forward.

"I'm... Solid Snake. I was sent here to find and destroy the new Metal Gear, find and save any hostages and stop Zanzibar Land's terrorist forces from blowing the whole world to hell. Is there anything that you can tell me that I need to know?" He asked her. It was quiet on Holly's side for a moment before she spoke again.

"No, there isn't. All I can tell you is that I'm here to help in any way I possibly can. Unfortunately, I can't do much where I am at the moment. You'll have to make due on your own for now." She said while Adam nodded. "I always do." He said before bidding Holly farewell for the moment before moving on.

Adam made his way further into Zanzibar's first building and finally found a weapon, but he restricted himself from using it for the time being until he could find a suppressor. He didn't find one in the first part of the test, but maybe he will this time. Hopefully. He holstered the gun and silently snuck his way past the guards. He made his way up to the third floor of the building when a small alarm went off in one of his pockets. He quickly hugged the side of a wall, pulled out a small radar and turned off its alarm. He looked around to see if anyone had heard it, but thankfully there weren't any soldiers chasing after him or anyone checking to see what the sound was. He let out a long sigh and looked at the small radar.

"Jesus, this thing could've gotten me killed, but it's my fault for forgetting that Dr. Kio Marv had a transmitter on him. And the radar says that he should be in the next room." He thought to himself as he walked towards the door of the room that the doctor was supposedly being held in.

Adam slowly opened the door to see a big room with dim lighting, but he could see someone sitting in the middle of the room with their hands bound together and a bag over their head. He slowly made his way towards this person and whispered in his ear when he got close enough.

"Dr. Kio Marv?" He asked. The person then shot up into the air and stood on top of the support beams that were in the room. They then unbound their hands and took off the bag along with the clothes they were wearing to disguise themselves as a scientist or doctor.

It was Zanzibar Lands Black Ninja. He looked down at Adam with a smirk behind his mask.

"Hah! Had you fooled didn't I, Foxhound scum?" He said smugly. Adam cursed himself for forgetting, once again, that the Black Ninja disguised himself as Dr. Marv to trick Snake way back then. But Adam still had to play along.

"Yeah, you sure had me fooled." He admitted. The Black Ninja laughed as he walked along the support beams while looking down at Adam. "Yeah, I figured I did. It doesn't take much to fool you Foxhound soldiers. Any one of you would fall for anything. We already knew that the good doctor had a transmitter on him, you know? We also knew that it would only be a matter of time before Foxhound would send one of its cronies to come here and save him. And who do they send? You." He said, once again, smugly. Adam was beginning to lose his patience with this guy.

"Are you going to keep gloating up there, or are you going to come down here and fight me?" Adam asked impatiently. The Black Ninja looked down with narrowed eyes and an even bigger smirk behind his mask. "Why? Are you that anxious to die, Solid Snake?" He asked, but Adam scoffed. "Get your ass down here and find out." He said darkly. The Black Ninja crouched down, ready to pounce, and then jumped toward Adam to take him down quickly, but Adam jumped out of the way and put his hands up to defend the Black Ninja's attacks.

The Black Ninja was quick and agile, but Adam had enough fighting experience to keep up with his movements. He quickly ducked a kick from the Black Ninja and countered with a palm strike to his back, sending him flying a few feet away from him before he quickly recovered and went to attack Adam again.

They each landed hard blows on each other until the Black Ninja threw a smoke pellet on the floor and disappeared. The smoke cleared, but Adam kept his guard up. He carefully looked all around him and walked slowly around the room while keeping a close eye on rooms close, sharp corners. Adam then felt a presence behind him then quickly turned around to throw a punch, which landed, and knocked the Black Ninja back a few steps before he threw down another pellet and disappeared again.

Adam continued to keep his guard up, but it wasn't long before he felt a presence again. This time, the Black Ninja tried to stab Adam with a kunai knife, but Adam caught his hand and flipped him over his head. The Black Ninja landed hard on his back, knocking the wind out of him, and tried recover to keep his offense going, but Adam held him in place. He stomped on the Black Ninja's head hard to stun him, then kneeled down on top of him and kept punching him in hopes of knocking him out.

But the Black Ninja momentarily recovered enough to get a leg up and kick Adam off him, before he tried to throw down another smoke pellet to recover, but his own kunai knife went through his hand, preventing him from doing this.

"ARRGGH!!!" He shouts while cradling his hand. He looks up to see Adam charging him before he tackled him to the ground and began to punch him again. After a while the Black Ninja stops moving. He wasn't dead, but he now looked like a bloody pulp. Adam got up off him as the Black Ninja, while still cradling his hand, slowly crawled over to one of the big containers in the room and rested there for a moment. He turns to look up at Adam with his only good eye while panting heavily before he suddenly stops.

Adam, thinking he had killed him, makes a move to check his pulse but stops when the Black Ninja suddenly glitches and disappears.

First phase of the second test- complete. Moving on to phase two.

The computer voice said before the whole room disappeared, making Adam wait again.

"I'm never going to find myself a suppressor for my gun, am I?" He thought to himself, annoyed.

Adam waited for a moment for the second phase of the test to start, but when the darkness turned into a new area, it wasn't quite what he was expecting. He was "standing" in a narrow space that lead straight down to somewhere, but he didn't know where.

Phase two test of the Zanzibar Land disturbance, begins now.

Adam's eyes widened.

"Oh, shit." He thought before the invisible floor he was standing on disappeared, then Adam fell down the narrow space going to a new area, the problem was, he didn't know where he would end up.

After falling for what felt like hours, which was only a few minutes, Adam finally felt solid ground when he fell, but he lost consciousness when he did. He woke up moments later to feel footsteps that shook the ground. Slowly getting up to his feet, he looked up to see multiple glowing red eyes staring at him. And then suddenly lights turned on to reveal that Adam was in a big hanger like room, but the lights also revealed what was standing over him.

Metal Gear D.

Adam then heard a voice speaking through Metal Gear D's loud speaker.

"Snake, I warned you to leave Zanzibar." The voice said. Adam stood there for a moment, confused, but then he remembered who had piloted Metal Gear D in Zanzibar Land all those years ago.

"Gray Fox." He thought to himself as Fox continued speaking.

"Now, I am going to have to kill you. Goodbye, old friend." Fox said as Metal Gear D positioned itself to attack.

Red laser pointers appeared all over Adam's body before he dodged the missiles that were flying towards him. Adam ran as quick as he could to avoid being blown to pieces while tried to remember how Snake brought Metal Gear D down. "Think, Adam, think. How did Snake bring piece of scrap metal down?" He thought to himself as the missiles continued firing at Adam but missed.

Then Adam remembered. Dr. Madnar had told Snake how to bring Metal Gear D down. The armor on Metal Gear D's legs were weaker than the armor on the rest of it's body. So Adam, while still running for his life, reached into his backpack and felt around to find any grenades. He eventually did and then began throwing them at the legs of Metal Gear D, damaging its armor and it's legs in the process.

Over time, Metal Gear D was receiving too much damage to its legs, and Adam could hear the metal struggling to hold together under Metal Gear D's weight, it wouldn't be long now until it would stop moving entirely. Adam threw a few more grenades at the legs of Metal Gear D, until eventually, its movements were sluggish and clumsy. It then stopped for a moment before it began to explode, sending Adam flying into a wall, knocking the wind out him.

Adam, stunned, shook his head slowly to get his senses back. When he did, he looked up to see Gray Fox jumping off the head of Metal Gear D then started to an exit door, but before he left, he turned and looked at Adam for a brief moment before leaving. Adam slowly got up to chase him, but stopped when felt his body burning for some reason. He looked down to see his backpack and most of his gear burning from Metal Gear D's explosion. He quickly took it all off and left them behind before he started to chase after Fox.

He left the hanger and chased Gray Fox outside, into a mine field. Adam looked at Fox, who was standing in the middle of the field, waiting for him. Adam exhaled slowly and started walking towards Fox. "Here we go." He thought as he got closer to where Fox was standing. He stopped right in front of him and just stared at him while Fox stared back.

"I know that this is all a recreation of everything Snake went through while he was alive, but maybe I can do things different. It may not be my best idea, but I'll be damned if I don't try." He thought to himself.

"Fox, listen to me, please. We don't have to do this. You can walk away right now, away from Big Boss. We don't have to fight each other." He said to Fox, but the platinum haired soldier just kept staring at him in silence before he spoke.

"You're a soldier, finish your mission. Prove your loyalty. Face me... Snake." He said. Adam narrowed his eyes with confusion. "I don't remember Fox saying that in the file records." He thought to himself before he had to quickly dodge a punch from the man. He stumbled backwards but caught his footing as he remembered that he was in a mine field, he had to be extra careful while fighting Fox.

Adam continued to dodge Foxes punches and kick all while trying to watch his step to avoid any mines. He felt like he couldn't do anything to Fox, and he didn't really want to, until Fox tried, once again, to punch Adam. But Adam caught his fist and flipped him over his shoulder, making Fox land on his back, knocking the wind out of him. He got back up quickly to retaliate, but Adam kept up his offense, punching and kicking him to knock him back down. But Fox wouldn't quit, he kept getting back up whenever Adam would knock him down and would counter attack when he had the strength to do so. Both men were now covered in cuts and bruises.

Eventually, Adam knocked Fox back down on the ground again and looked down at him. "Stay down, Fox. That's your only warning. I told you already, I don't want to fight or kill you." He said with a glare. Fox looked up at Adam and spit out blood and wiped his mouth before standing up. Adam sighed. "Fox, please..." He pleaded. But Fox didn't listen. "There's only one way that this ends, Snake. Either you kill me, or I kill you. Either way, we're soldiers. This is what we're born to do. We live, we fight, we kill. That's the life of soldiers, of warriors. It's the only thing any of us will ever know. Now, FIGHT ME!!!" Fox shouts before he charges at Adam, but Adam, once again, grabbed Foxes arm and flipped him over his shoulder, sending him further away from him than before.

Fox panted heavily while he was on his back. When he felt that had gotten some energy back from resting, he flipped over on his belly to try and stand up, but when one of his hands touched the ground, both men heard something that made them turn as pale as a ghost.

Click!

Foxes hand had landed on a mine. He looked down slowly at his hand then back at Adam.

"Snake-"

BOOM!!!

Fox exploded in front of Adams eyes.

"NOOO!!!" Adam shouted, but it didn't help. Everything then went black and Adam sat in darkness again.

Phase two of Zanzibar Land Disturbance test- complete. Please wait for the Final Phase to begin.

The computer voice said as Adam fell to his knees with tears forming in his eyes. He couldn't believe what just happened.

"How did Snake do it? How could he do all this and and not walk away from it all?" He asked himself. "Is this really the life that soldiers live? Friends turning on each other because of opposing views and ideals? How could Snake, Raiden, Meryl and Otacon live like this?" He continued to question himself before the next phase began.

Final Phase of the Zanzibar Land Disturbance test- beginning now.

The computer voice said as Adam stood up to see a different room forming, and in front of him... Big Boss? Adam stood there confused as ever. Adam had read official records that someone else had taken the name Big Boss and acted as the terrorist behind the Zanzibar Land Disturbance, but here, standing in front of him, was Big Boss. Just like he remembered him from the first test. "What the hell is going on here?" Adam thought to himself before Big Boss spoke. "Hello, Snake. We meet again." He said to him.

Adam stood there, still playing along, but was genuinely confused about this part of the test. "How the hell are you still alive, Big Boss? I killed you, I watched you die. I saw the light leave your eyes." He said to the man. Big Boss just chuckled. "That's for me to know, and you to never find out. A soldier is nothing without a few secrets." He said to Adam with, what looked like, a genuine smile on his face, but then the smile suddenly faded and he looked serious again. "Where is Gray Fox?" He asked Adam. Adam just stood there and didn't answer. "So, you killed him, yes?" He asked.

Adam was shaken. He didn't think Big Boss would talk about Gray Fox. He was just expecting to fight him and end the test, but this was different.

"N-no, I-I didn't kill him. His hand landed on a mine and then he just..." Adam tried to explain but trailed off with his head down. He then just stood there not saying one word to Big Boss. "He was a soldier, Snake. He knew what he signed up for and he knew the risks. You need to start getting that through your head. You may have gotten this far by luck and experience, Snake, but you didn't do it alone. And war has no room for pacifists or gutless men and women." He said sternly. Adam looked up at Big Boss slowly with a glare. "Are you seriously lecturing me about war? War is only caused by people like you that have no room in society or the world anymore! War is not caused by friends turning on each other and becoming bitter enemies! War is caused by pieces of trash like you who send young men and women to their deaths! If I didn't really kill you last time, then that just means I killed another one of your so called "Dogs of War" while you hid, cowering in the shadows. You are not the greatest soldier in the world, Big Boss. You're just another fucking terrorist that needs to be put down, permanently." Adam said with conviction.

Big Boss stood staring at Adam with a wide eye before he started chuckling and then burst with laughter. "Hahahaha! Yes, that's the idea! Now, you're thinking more like a soldier!" He declared, all while laughing. Adam felt even more confused as he looked at Big Boss. "What the hell is wrong with him? Is he really that insane?" He asked himself.

Big Boss continued laughing for a few moments before he stopped, he would only chuckle from time to time. "Hahaha. Damn, boy, you're really something else you know that? I haven't laughed that hard in years, but you're still not seeing the big picture. All the things I've done up to now, I've done to give those men and women a second chance at a life that THEY wanted to live. When those people in America have no more need for people like them, like us, they toss them aside like every day trash and move on to the other expendable pawns until they have no more use for them either. People like us, Snake, live only for the next fight. We seek out a war even when there are none. But now, we only fight because of worthless pigs that live in their luxury homes and treat the rest of us like we're pawns in a game that they think only they can win. I, we, of Outer Heaven are only fighting now to take away what those people took away from us. Our livelihood, freedom, liberty and everything else. We're fighting to take back our lives and our right to make our own choices." Big Boss explained to Adam.

Adam narrowed his eyes. "He's talking about The Patriots and everyone who supports or sides with them." He thought. "So all this so-called patriotism is your excuse for sending your soldiers to their deaths? Just to get your freedom and liberty back?" He asked Big Boss, who nodded his head. "Yes. And I regret that not all of those men and women who died will never go back to their normal lives, but I have a feeling that they wouldn't want to even they got it all back. Everyone who joined my Outer Heaven was free to come and go as they chose. But when people in every country wouldn't even take back their own people, they had no where to go. So they stayed. I didn't make them stay, they stayed because they wanted to. Even if it would cost them their lives in the end. That's the price that people like us pay to live and fight another day. Society has no room for people like us because they chose to toss all of us to the side like trash." He answered as Adam remained silent.

Then Big Boss spoke again after a moment. "And they will do the same to you as well. When they have no more use for you, they cast you out like they did the rest of us. Even if you decide to walk away, they'll just bring you back so they can toss you aside themselves. They like it better when get rid of us themselves." The man admitted. Adam remained silent a moment longer before speaking again. "Even if everything that you're saying is true, I still have a mission to complete. Not because it's my orders, but because I feel and KNOW that taking you out is right. Even if all those men and women chose to stay, you've sent too many of them to their deaths. You're treating them no better than the people that cast you all out. When I kill you, I'll make sure you stay dead this time." He said coldly with a glare.

Big Boss just stood in his spot for a moment before nodding his head. "Well, then, let's see which one of us will walk away from this fight. One will be liberated from the battle field, the other will continue to see endless battle until the day he dies. Now, FACE ME, SNAKE!!!" He shouted before running towards Adam, looking to tackle him to the ground.

Adam dodged Big Bosses tackle then tried to suplex him to the ground, but the old, experienced, soldier quickly turned around and grabbed Adams arm then tossed him, hard, onto the floor. He quickly got back up just as Big Boss tried to punch him while he was down, but punched the floor instead. Big Boss looked up to look at Adam just as he was about to pounce on the old man, but he caught him and flipped him over, making Adam fly into a wall before landing on his face.

"Ugh, my head. Jesus, I can't take this guy down with my own techniques. Big Boss is too damn experienced with CQC, and I only know enough to match Solid Snake, from what I've been told at least. But Big Boss? I've got no chance. So, I have to outwit him." Adam thought to himself while rubbing his head and looking at Big Boss. Said soldier was walking towards Adam with a disappointed look on his face. "What's wrong, Snake? You took out Gray Fox, and put up a fight with him. You're beginning to disappoint me. Either you give me more of a challenge, or I will just go ahead and kill you without wasting my energy." The man said while cracking his knuckles.

Adam took in a deep breath and quickly stood up to run at the man then jumped over his head, just as the man was about to try and knock him down. Adam landed on his feet behind Big Boss punched him two times on the back, sending the legendary soldier stumbling forward a few feet. Big Boss rubbed his back and turned around with a smile on his face. "There. That's more like it. Show me what else you got, Snake." He said before both men charged at each other.

Both men traded blows at each other, each punch and kick more devastating than the last. During the trade of blows, Adam tried to remember exactly how Solid Snake defeated Big Boss, but he was having a difficult time remembering until Big Boss knocked him down once again and saw a can of some type of small can roll out of one of his many pockets. Then it hit Adam like a truck. "I remember now. Snake beat Big Boss with a cigarette lighter and a lacquer spray. He made a makeshift flamethrower. So that's what I'm going to do. I can't beat Big Boss like this myself, I'm too inexperienced." He thought to himself as he watched Big Boss slowly walk towards him.

So, Adam quickly got up and ran towards the can then picked it up. He pulled out the cigarette lighter and lit it up. Facing towards Big Boss, he spayed the contents from the can into the small flame and watched the growing flame roar towards Big Boss, burning the man instantly.

Big Boss screamed and howled in pain while he began to pat himself, frantically trying to put out the flames covering his body. But Adam wouldn't let up and sprayed Big Boss again. The man screamed much louder than before and began to run around the room screaming and patting himself trying to put out the flames, but Adam just chased him down and continued to light the man on fire until he finally stopped screaming and dropped to the ground. Adam stood in his spot waiting to see if Big Boss had one final breath left in him.

When it seemed like he didn't, Adam slowly walked towards the exit door, wanting to finally end the test. But when he got close to the door he heard a loud gasp, before he quickly turned around with the spray can and lighter at the ready. He saw Big Bosses head painfully turn towards him with his one eye wide and glaring. "It... will never... end, Snake. It never... does. It... won't end... with me... with you... or anyone else. It... only ends... when one side... finally loses... or they both... lose. You will... have... no future... Snake. None of us... can have... happy ending. That's the way... of a... soldier. The way... of a warrior..." Big Boss warned ominously before his one eye finally closed and let out his last breath.

Adam just stood there for a moment before dropping the spray can and cigarette lighter before walking out the exit door to see a bright light overwhelm him. He then felt himself being pulled out of the VR world and back into reality. He then felt that he was back in the VR chair with the headset still covering his face. He breathed heavily and waited for the doctor to take it off and unstrap him from the chair.

When she did, he quickly jumped out of the chair and layed down on his belly on the floor to let the cold floor cool him down. He coughed roughly for a few minutes before sitting up slowly. The doctor, who had let him be for the moment, rested her hand against his shoulder and gently shook him. Adam jumped back to his feet and turned around to face her, putting his hands up to attack her if she made any sudden moves. "Calm down. You're back in reality. Just calm yourself and go to your bed quarters to get some rest." She said to him calmly. Adam had been holding his breath for a moment before he finally exhaled and slumped down against the wall.

The doctor tilted her head looking at Adam out of concern. "Will you be alright?" She asked him. He nodded. "Yeah, just... just go about your business. I'll be out here in a minute." He said to her before she nodded her head and wrote down on her clipboard.

Adam stayed in his spot for a few minutes before he felt calm enough to get up and head back to his bed quarters. He walked out of the room then the building minutes later and headed straight to his bed quarters. "I should grab a bite to eat, but if I do I won't be able to keep it down. I'll only feel sick to my stomach. So, I'm just going to get some rest and turn in early. Or take a dirt nap at least." He thought as he walked into his bedroom. He grabbed a change of clothes and headed to the showers.

He washed all the sweat and stink off of him, plus the sound and warmth of the water helped calm him down more before he headed back to his room. Once he got back to his bedroom, he put his previous clothes in a hamper and lied down. He instantly fell asleep when his head hit the pillow.


	4. Chapter 4: Test 3- Shadow Moses

**Disclaimer- I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.**

Adam woke up for a moment and turned over to see what time it was on his clock. "6:30. I've been out for a while." He thought as he sat up and scratched his head. He yawn and stretched before he got up to walk over to his dresser. He looked at himself in the mirror, his hazel yellow eyes staring right back at him. "How did you do it, Snake? How could you go back to all of that after you left? Why did you keep fighting?" He thought and wondered to himself.

He heard a knock on his door, making him jump before he turned around with his hands raised in defense. He sighed and relaxed his body. "Come in." He said. His door knob turned and Lynn walked in. "Hey, Adam. How are you?" She asked him. He shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "Tired, but I'm doing alright." He answered. She nodded with a smile. "Well, if you want a bite to eat before you head back to bed, every one is waiting for us in the mess hall." She told him. Adam thought about it for a moment before nodding his head. "Yeah, sure. I could eat." He said as he grabbed a shirt and slipped it on while walking out of his bed quarters with Lynn.

He and Lynn made their way to the mess hall and walked in to see it empty except for all their friends sitting at their favorite table. Craig looked up to see them and waved. "Yo, Adam, Lynn! Glad you could make it!" He called out as Adam and Lynn made their way to grab as much food as they could to eat. They both sat down and started eating, but Adam noticed that they were all staring at him while they, too, ate. "What are you guys staring at?" He asked them. "We're staring at you, Adam." Jennifer answered. "Why?" He asked. They all shrugged.

"Normally, you're the one that makes it out just fine from all the combat and weapons tests. But today? You decided to take a dirt nap after the second VR test. Why?" Craig asked him. Everyone nodded, but Adam just shrugged. "I think the question is, why didn't you guys do the same thing?" He countered. Everyone just stared at him then put their heads down. "We couldn't tell you even if we wanted to, Adam. Because we don't know why. We just... I don't think that we can bear to see what happened to Gray Fox again. That was..." Lynn said but then trailed off before Juno finished her sentence for her. "Horrifying." She said as everyone nodded as they all now sat in silence. Until one of the other male cadets spoke. "Well, good riddance, I say. The dude was seriously out of his mind siding with Big Boss anyway. Complete waste of real talent." He said.

Then everyone all shot glares at the cadet. "That's real low, Evan. If anyone of us were in Foxes boots, what would we have done?" Another cadet, Logan, asked him. Evan just chuckled before taking a big, quick, bite out of his meal. "I don't know about the rest of you losers, but I know what I WOULDN'T have done. Not sided with Big Boss, that's what." He said as everyone just kept shooting glares at the cadet.

"You don't know that for sure, Evan." Adam spoke. Everyone just looked at him with curiosity. "Excuse me, Eagles? What did you just say?" Evan asked him. Adam looked up at Evan with a look on his face that told everyone at the table, that the second VR test hit Adam the most emotionally. "I said, you don't know that for sure. Big Boss and Gray Fox may have had their hearts in the right places, but the things they did, were all wrong. You may think that you wouldn't have joined Big Boss if given a choice. You say that NOW, but what about if you were there while they were still alive?" He said to all of them, not just Evan. Everyone sat at the table looking at Adam before putting their heads down to think about it, but Adam and Evan just stared fiercely at each other.

"You can think and say what you want about those men, Evan, but they were both TWICE the soldiers you can ever hope to be. And even if either one of us at this table earns the title of Snake, we can never be like he was. We will have to make a name for ourselves, regardless of who gets the title." Adam declared. This made all the cadets look at Adam, except Evan. He just scoffed and spit on the floor. "Whatever. I'm going to bed. All you idiots can sit around a campfire and hold hands if you want, but keep me out of it." He said with his hands in his pockets as he walked out of the mess hall.

Everyone just looked at him before they went back to finishing their meals. Craig looked at Evans plate and smirked. "Haha, he wants to call us idiots, but the bastard hardly touched his plate." He said as he took the rest of Evans food. Everyone looked at him, annoyed. "Seriously, Craig?" Juno asked him. Craig looked at everyone then laughed. "Haha! Hey. You know how the saying goes. You snooze, you lose." He said while everyone shook their heads and finished their food before turning in for the night to rest up for the next test.

Next Morning...

All the cadets got up the next morning as usual and headed for the test building. They all walked in and sat down in the chairs, waiting for the Sergeant to walk in and escort them to the rooms.

It was deathly silent as they all waited, it was silent with the first two test, but the silence was nothing like it was today. 8 of the cadets were on the verge of hyperventilating, but it took everything they had to keep calm, because when they looked at the other two cadets, Adam and Evan, they saw that they were as calm as they possibly could be. So all the 8 cadets just took in deep breaths and let it out slowly to calm themselves while continued waiting. A few moments later, the Sergeant walked in, but no one got up to salute him. Not even Adam or Evan. He understood why, so he wasn't going to say anything to them about it. But he still had to take them all to their testing rooms. "Alright, I know you all are having a rough week, but you still have to take 3 more tests. So, follow me please." He said as they all stood up and followed him.

Like the past 2 days, Adam walked into a room where he sees a doctor, another female doctor, standing in the room next to a computer and the VR chair. She looks up after she writes on her clipboard. "Adam Eagles?" She asks, offering her hand to shake his. Adam nods. "Yes, ma'am." He answers while taking her hand and shakes it. "Good. Well, you should know the drill by now." She says with a smile while motioning her hand at the VR chair. Adam nods again then sits down in the chair, waiting for the doctor to put on the VR headset and begin the test.

After a few minutes, the headset slowly comes down and hangs just a few inches above Adams head. The doctor puts it on him and adjusts it to make it snug and comfortable for him. Adam, once again, sits and waits in darkness until he felt his mind being pulled into the VR world. Once everything became digitized, he then saw that he is inside a one man SDV, an underwater vehicle that looks just like an underwater missile. "Ok, Shadow Moses Island. Let's do this." Adam thought to himself as he waited and braced himself for the vehicle to launch out of the submarine.

Adam heard mechanical whirring and hums, meaning that the SDV was about to fire. And then, not long after...

BOOM!

The SDV shot out of the submarine and Adam held on for dear life inside the little mini underwater vehicle. "Jesus Christ! Whose bright idea was this?!" He thought to himself as the SDV shot towards it's destination. After a few rough moments, the SDV stopped shaking violently and the ride was going smoothly. Adam then used the SDV's miniature camera to scan everything under the water to pass the time until he got to where he needed to be, until the SDV suddenly bumped into the side of the island and began to sink and flood on the inside.

Adam then pulled a lever to open the hatch, releasing him from the sinking SDV, once out in the open water, Adam watched for a moment as the SDV sank before swimming the rest of the way to the surface. "I better hurry and get out of the water soon, the sneaking suit was designed to prevent hyperthermia, but it can't do that forever under water." Adam thought to himself as he swam to the surface.

Moments later...

Adam continued swimming under the water and found that he had swam into the islands docking area. "Alright, I'm here." He thought as he swam over to the stairs. He hoisted himself up out of the water and took off his flippers but froze when he heard a voice. "Stay alert! He'll be through here. I know it." Adam already knew who the voice belonged to, but he turned around to try and catch a glimpse of the man, but couldn't due to the large cargo containers blocking his view of the elevator. "I'm going to swat down a couple of bothersome flies." He heard the voice again while hearing footsteps walking into the elevator.

The alarm went off, signaling that the elevator was going up to the surface, to the helipad. Adam turned back around and nodded his head before standing up and walked quietly to the large water pump and kneeling behind it. He put his finger up to his ear and activated the codec.

Beep, beep!

"This is Snake. Can you hear me, Colonel?" Adam asked when his call was answered. "Loud and clear. What's the situation, Snake?" The Colonel, Roy Campbell, asked. "The elevator in the back of the docking area is the only way up." Adam answered. Colonel Campbell sighed. "Just as I expected. You'll have to take the elevator to the surface, but make sure nobody sees you. If you need to, contact me by codec. The frequency is 140.85. When you need to use the codec, just press your finger up to your ear. When we need to contact you, the codec will beep. When you hear that noise, press your finger up to your ear to receive the call. The codecs receiver directly stimulates the small bones in your ear. No one but you will be able to hear it." The Colonel informed Adam, who listened intently and nodded his head. "Got it. Alright, I'm ready to go." He answered. "Good luck, Snake." Campbell responded before ending the codec call.

Adam crouched down and crawled underneath the large water pump, and observed the enemy patrols making their routes around the large cargo containers. When he saw an opening to make his way closer to the elevator, he quickly crawled out and made a quick move to silently take out one of the patrols before looking to hide again. He saw a few lockers near the elevator then quickly, but quietly, ran over to them before stepping inside one of them to hide.

Adam wasn't hiding in the locker for very long until he heard the alarm blare again, letting him know that the elevator was coming back down. When the alarm stopped blaring, he peeked out of the lockers slits to see if the coast was clear. An enemy soldier walked into his narrow view, the way to the elevator wasn't clear yet, but Adam didn't have to wait long. The enemy soldier looked right then left before walking down the center of the room to start his own patrol.

Adam made a quick, but silent, rush to the elevator, the elevators gate closed and the alarm blared once again. The snake in training was now on his way to the surface of Shadow Moses Island.

Adam took this time to remove the rest of his scuba gear, leaving just his sneaking suit for the remainder of the mission. The elevator rose above the water, letting Adam know that he wasn't in the docking area anymore, he was outside in the cold, harsh chill of Alaska as the elevator rose higher and closer to the islands helipad. "Alright, Adam. You got this." Adams thought to himself just as the elevator ride now stopped.

Adam looked around to see helicopter blades rotating. He crouched low and made his way behind a stack of small, metal containers. He peeked out from behind his position to see enemy soldiers surrounding the helicopter, protecting it from any potential intruders or enemy forces. He hid back behind cover and pressed his finger up to his ear to make a call.

Beep, beep!

"This is Snake, I'm in front of the disposal facility." He said when the call was answered. "Excellent, Snake! Age hasn't slowed you down one bit." Campbell answered. Adam looked a little annoyed at that comment. "Snake wasn't that old when this incident happened, you old geezer. You want to talk about old though..." He began thinking to himself, but was interrupted when someone cut into the conversation. "How's that sneaking suit working out?" The new voice, Naomi Hunter, asked him. "I'm nice and dry, but it's difficult to move." Adam responded.

"Bear with it. It's designed to prevent hyperthermia. This is Alaska, you know?" Naomi answered, coldly. "Don't sound so harsh, Naomi, I'm grateful. If it hadn't been for this suit or your shot, I would've turned into a popsicle out here." He answered. "An anti-freezing peptide, Snake. All of the genome soldiers in this exercise are using it." Naomi said with a smile, though Adam couldn't see it. "I gotcha, I'm actually relieved to hear that. It's already been tested, huh? By the way, how's the diversionary operation going?" Adam asked.

"Two F-16's just took off from Galena and are headed your way. The terrorists radar should've already picked them up." The Colonel pitched in and told Adam, who cautiously peeked his head out from behind the stack of metal containers. He then saw the type of helicopter that was sitting on the helipad, he also saw Liquid Snake stepping inside of the cockpit. "A Hind-D? Colonel, what's a Russian gunship doing here on the island?" He asked. "I have no idea, but it looks like our little diversion got their attention." The old man answered as Adam watched the chopper rise into the air before it flew away from the island. "Now's your best chance to slip in unnoticed. There are only 18 hours left until their deadline. You have to hurry." Colonel said with angst. "Wow, he must be crazy to fly a Hind in this kind of weather." A young female voice pitched in.

"Who's that, Colonel?" Adam asked, although he already knew who it was. "Oh, sorry, I haven't introduced you two yet. This is Mei Ling. She was assigned to us as our visual and data processing specialist. She designed your codec, as well as your soliton radar system. Contact her if you have any questions about either of them." The man answered before Adam heard a giggle. "Nice to meet you, Snake. It's an honor to speak to a living legend like yourself." Mei Ling spoke to Adam, but Adam didn't respond.

"What's wrong?" She asked. "Nothing. I just didn't expect a world class designer of military technology to be so... young and cute." Adam admitted. Mei Ling giggled. "You're just flattering me." She said with a smile. "I'm serious, Mei Ling. At least I know I won't be bored for the next 18 hours." He said with a smirk. "I'm hitting on a virtual model of a woman from the past. I'm actually ashamed of myself." Adam thought. Mei Ling gasped. "What's this? I'm being hit on by the famous Solid Snake? But, really, I'm surprised. You're very frank for a trained killer." She said.

"I guess we both have a lot to learn about each other, Mei Ling." Adam smirked. "Indeed. I'm looking forward to knowing more about the man behind the legend. But, first, let me explain about your soliton radar system." She said before explaining. Adam lifted up his left wrist to look at what looked like a watch with a miniature screen that was the soliton radar system. "The bright dot in the middle is you, Snake. The red dots are your enemies, and the blue cone shape represents their field of vision." Mei Ling began before Naomi spoke. "But be careful, Snake, the genome soldiers have heightened developed senses of hearing and vision due to their gene therapy. Make sure you DON'T let them see you." She said.

Then the Colonel began to speak. "First, I want you to infiltrate the disposal site and locate the DARPA Chief." He ordered. "The DARPA Chief was injected with the same GPS transmitting nano-machines as you." Naomi added. "He should appear on your radar as a green dot." Mei Ling also added. "Get whatever information you can from him about the terrorists. If he's alive that is." Campbell finished.

"Snake, your radar isn't affected by the weather, but if you are discovered by an enemy you won't be able to use it." Mei Ling continued. "Yes, it gets jammed easily I'm afraid." Campbell said, slightly frustrated about the radar. "Yes. It's all made from currently existing technology. You won't be able to use it in an area with strong harmonic resonance. So be careful." She finished. "We'll be monitoring your movements by radar. So contact us by codec anytime you want." Campbell spoke after Mei Ling.

Adam nodded. "Right. I'll call if I feel lonely." He said with a chuckle. Naomi sighed. "Seriously, Snake. We're here to back you up, so call if you need information or advice." She said before Mei Ling chimed in again. "I'm also in charge of your mission data. Contact me if you ever want me to record your current mission status. My frequency is 140. 96. It's a dedicated frequency for saving data. Don't forget it." She informed Adam with a wink, though Adam couldn't see it.

"Also remember, except for your binoculars you're naked. You need to arm yourself with whatever weapons you can find." Campbell once again ordered. Adam had to think for a moment about what his response would be before he answered. "I wouldn't have to if I hadn't been strip searched by Dr. Naomi here and have all my weapons taken away. Imagine yourself in that position Colonel." Adam responded.

"Well, maybe if you make it back in one piece, I'll let you do a strip search on me." Naomi tried to flirt, but Adam could hear that her voice didn't match the tone. "I think I'll pass Doctor. You're not exactly my type anyway. And I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I did manage to smuggle out my smokes." Adam admitted, although he doesn't smoke. He then heard Naomi silently gasp. "And how did you do that?" She asked him. He smirked. "In my stomach. Thanks to that shot you gave me that suppressed my stomach acids." He admitted.

"Cigarettes? How are those going to help you?" Mei Ling asked. Adam chuckled. You never know." He said as he pulled out his binoculars and cautiously peeked his head out from behind the metal containers. "If want to get in, there's the front door. It's the fastest way, but there's too much risk of being spotted by the enemy." Campbell said as Adam looked at the hanger door with the binoculars. "Yeah, I can't just walk up to it, knock on the door and ask them to let me in." He said as he looked to his left then right. "There's one sentry on the left, and another on the right." He then looked at their gear. "Their armed with five five sixers and pineapples." He informed.

"What about the air duct near the door?" Campbell asked. Adam looked back to the left of the heliport to see a soldier standing in front of an air duct under a security camera. "That could work, but it's also a risky move because of the security camera." Adam admitted. "There should also be a second duct on the second floor." Campbell informed. Adam looked up to the second floor and tried to find it, but shook his head. "I can't see it from where I am, Colonel." He said.

"I'll let you decide the best COA. I'm counting on you, Snake." Campbell said as Adam put away his binoculars.

He stood up and silently snuck past the enemy soldiers and their security cameras to make his way up to the second floor of the disposal facility to find the second air duct. Once he found it, he quickly and quietly crawled inside of it to make his way inside the facility.

As he crawled through the ventilation system he heard a conversation between two enemy soldiers, so he stopped and kept quiet to listen in. "I moved the DARPA Chief to the cell in the first floor basement." One of the soldiers said. "What about the vent shaft cleaning?" The other asked. "Oh, they just opened the vent covers, they're about to start spraying for rats." The soldier answered. "Also keep your eye on that woman in the cell. Don't get careless now." He finished. Adam narrowed his eyes. "Woman in the cell? That's probably Meryl he's talking about." He thought as the two soldiers walked away to continue their patrol.

Adam continued to move through the ventilation system until he found a ladder to climb down into the hanger. Once he climbed down he crouched down to try avoid being seen for the moment. He took note of all the enemy patrols in the hanger, once he counted how many there were, he jumped over the railing, landed on his feet and silently made his way over to the elevator. He rapidly pressed the button to get it open before someone spotted him.

When it finally arrived, he got inside it and pressed the button for the first floor basement.

After the short elevator ride he slowly walked into the room before he looked at his his wrist, that had the soliton radar, to see a big green dot to the left of him. He looked at the wall before he made his way down the hallway. He stopped and looked at the door, but it won't open for him anyway, as he currently doesn't have a Level 1 security card. He continued to walk down the hallway to and turned left to find a ladder leading back up into the ventilation system.

Adam sighed. "Well, this is a dirty job after all." He thinks to himself as he climbs up the ladder. Once he's back up in the vents, he uses the radar to maneuver his way to the DARPA Chiefs cell. A few minutes later, he reaches an air duct with an opening, he looks down to see a young woman with red hair exercising in the cell. "It's Meryl, but I need to reach the Chief." He thinks before he continues crawling to the second air duct.

Once he does, he looks down into the cell to see the man sitting on the bed. Adam then takes out the screws holding down the opening. The Chief, hearing the noise, looks up at the ceiling and stands up to back away to see Adam lowering himself into the cell. "Who-who's that?" He asks. Adam drops down and lands on his feet before looking at the Chief. He stands up slowly and raises his hands to show that he isn't a threat. "I'm here to save you. You're the DARPA Chief, Donald Anderson, aren't you?" He asks him.

The Chief, still backing away, looks at Adam suspiciously. "You're here to save me, huh? What's your- what's your- what's your- what's your- what's your- " He says over and over again before he freezes. Adam narrows his eyes. "What the hell? Is there a bug with the programming?" He thinks before the Chief suddenly disappears. Adam stood in silence in the virtual cell for a few moments.

"Well, that's great. There's a problem with the program and I'm stuck in here with no way out." He thinks in frustration before the virtual world suddenly throws him into darkness. Adam feels himself falling, but he doesn't know where he'll end up until suddenly he lands hard on his back. He groans as he turns over on his stomach to watch the new area around him taking form.

Adam doesn't recognize the area at first, but once he looks up to the two twin radio towers, he instantly knew where he was. "I'm in the snow field where Snake fought Sniper Wolf the second time, but this isn't right. I'm here too early. What the hell is going on here?" He asks himself as he turned in all directions to get a grasp on his current situation.

It was only a few minutes that he was brought to this area until he saw a pair of glowing pale green eyes in the distance of the field. "What the hell?" He thinks as the roar of the snow storm engulfed his ears. Then another set of glowing eyes appeared in the distance. Then another and another. Four sets of glowing eyes were now staring at Adam.

Then, over the roar of the storm, he could hear hissing. And since Adam was the only one out in the open of the field, it was clear that, whatever those things were, they were hissing at him before the eyes suddenly disappeared and he could hear the hissing all around him.

Adam looked all around him in the snow storm to see what these things were, but all he could see was glimpses of what appeared to be shadow figures that moved super fast. And every time he tried to see who or what he was up against, they would disappear in a quick flash before he could even see them.

"How on earth can I fight something I can't even see?!" He thinks himself before one of the creatures suddenly stood in front of him. It was clearly a male, and it's skin was very pale. It had no hair anywhere on it's body, it wore what looked like a mix between a muscle suit and a stealth suit. It also wore some type of mask, either to help it breathe or keep it from breathing on anyone, but it's most disturbing feature was it's eyes. Glowing pale green eyes glaring at Adam.

It's glare sent a chill down Adam's spine. "Wha- what the hell are you?" He asked, but he wasn't expecting an answer. "We..." It started to speak, making Adam freeze. "are... the... Skulls..." It answered before pushing Adam, making him fly across the air before he crashed against the wall.

Adam looked up to see the other three "Skulls" walking towards him. All glaring at him. Adam normally was not one to panic, but he was fighting an enemy that he doesn't even know about. And he wasn't even sure if they were real or not.

"SOMEBODY GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!" He shouts into the storm as the Skulls continued their walk towards their prey.


	5. Chapter 5: The Skulls

**Disclaimer: I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.**

Adam flew across the air and landed hard into the snow as all the Skulls circled around him quickly like predators cornering their prey. He stood up and shook off the snow to try and regain his bearings, but was sent flying once again. "How the fuck can I fight something that I can't even get close enough to?" He angrily thought to himself as he stood back up, but this time, the Skulls stopped circling him and just stood in their spots, staring at him. All four of their pale green glowing eyes were locked on to him and it sent chills down his spine.

It was only a moment before Adam started to hear a faint clapping noise inside of the roaring snowstorm. "What the hell...?" He thought before he saw the shadow of someone walking towards him and the Skulls. It wasn't long until this person is revealed to be a man of Hispanic descent, but Adam doesn't recognize him. The man kneels down in front of the downed Adam and looks at him with a smirk. "So, you're one of the the front runners for the code name Snake? I must say that I am impressed, not many men can resist the effects of the Skulls mist." The man said, but Adam looked confused. "The hell are you talking about? What mist?" He asked him. Now, it was the mans turn to look confused before he started to laugh. "Hahahaha... HAHAHAHAHA!!! You really don't know, do you? Well, it is understandable. You can't really tell in this storm. Take a look, "young Snake", do you notice anything different about the color of the snow? Or rather, our current surroundings?" The man asked Adam.

Adam looks at the area around them and then the color of the snow before his eyes widened, the snow had turned into a pale yellow-ish color. He looks up at the man and the Skulls, who were staring at him while the man just kept smirking. "You see it now don't you?" He asked. "Once again, I'm impressed that you're resisting the effects of the mist with so little effort. Because if you had been a lesser man, then you would be nothing more than a mindless and empty shell of a human. You are quite the unique one, Mr. Adam Eagles. I wish I could say the same about your friends." He continued with an even more disturbing smirk as Adam looked at him in shock. "What do you mean, and how do you know my name?" He asked him, but the man just chuckled. "You'll soon find out, but only if you survive against them..." He said pointing to the Skulls. "...and them." He then pointed to the Genome Soldiers, who were slowly walking towards them with an empty stare.

Adam looked closer at their eyes and noticed that their eyes were the same as the Skulls, but blank and mindless. "What did you do to them?" He asked the man through gritted teeth, but the man just chuckled again. "Heh, what do you care? They're your enemy, and they're not even real. They're nothing more than just digital pixels in a virtual world." He answered before he stood up to walk past the Skulls. He placed a hand on one of their shoulders and whispered in its ear. "Have fun." He said as he tapped the Skulls shoulder before disappearing.

All the Skulls glared even more darkly at Adam as they crouched down and hissed. " **Ssssnake!** " They hissed before suddenly conjuring a machine gun from out of no where with their hands and pointed them all at him. "Shit..." Adam whispered before he quickly jumped out of the line of fire and ran away as far as he possibly could from the Skulls before he encountered one of the brainwashed Genome Soldiers. They growled and tried to grab hold of Adam, but he managed to grab one of them instead and flipped him over his shoulder. He then turned to another one of the G-Soldiers and was about to counter whatever he was about to do, but gunfire from the Skulls interrupted his small plan and made him jump back to avoid fire again.

The Skulls moved quickly around the field, hissing and snarling while they tried to corner Adam with their gunfire that was missing. "Their not even trying to hit me." Adam thought. The he suddenly felt a presence behind him and quickly dodged out of the way to see a Skull land on the ground with a loud clang. There was a machete in its hands as it hit the ground before the Skull that tried to attack him turned around with a menacing glare. It hissed as it suddenly disappeared again like the others. "So, that's what they were trying to do. Catch me off guard by not actually shooting at me, and then have one of them attack me from behind." He thought as he kept a close eye out for the Skulls, who were suddenly no where to be seen, but he could still hear them all hissing and snarling at him, and the G-Soldiers, who were slowly walking towards him moaning and groaning like zombies. "These guys are coordinated. So well coordinated that it's scary." He thought again while looking around for any sort of opening to escape, but how would he be able to get out? He was still trapped inside a virtual world.

Just then a light appeared from across the field near one of the warehouses in the shape of what looked like a portal. " _Hurry! Rush to the portal and jump through it!" A voice shouted at Adam. Not needing to be told twice, he rushed to the portal while avoiding the brainwashed G-Soldiers and gunfire from the Skulls, but once he got closer to the portal the gunfire stopped and he could hear their snarling and hissing getting closer. They were chasing him. Adam was within reach of the portal and jumped just as all the Skulls shouted at him. **"SSSSNAKE!!!"** Adam heard as he jumped into the portal. _

The portal closed and Adam could feel himself either flying or falling inside of the portal, and he had no idea where it would take him. It was only a moment later when light overwhelmed him and he suddenly woke up inside of the VR chair. He gasped as the headset was taken off and he felt hands grabbing onto him. He reacted and tried to fight back, but stopped when a familiar female voice stopped him. "Adam, you're safe now! Stop!" The voice commanded. Adam stopped resisting as his eyes finally focused and he could see that it was Meryl, the doctor and the drill sergeant standing over him with worried faces. They all let out a heavy sigh, but then they started to unstrap Adam from the chair. "Come on, hurry, we have to get him out of here." Meryl said in slight panic. Adam was confused. "Why the sudden rush, Meryl? What's going on?" He asked, groggily. She looked at him as they picked him up from the chair. "The whole VR system is compromised, Adam, and the base is under attack. We have to get you out of here." She answered as they all walked out of the room, but Adam stopped. "Wait a minute, what about the others? We can't just leave-" He stopped mid sentence as he looked into one of the rooms that was holding the VR test and began to feel a wave of emotions.

Lynn was sitting in the VR chair, with the headset still on her head and one of her legs and arms hanging off of the chair... both limp. Adam looked at the monitor to see her vital signs.

A flat line ran across the screen. She was dead.

"No. No, this can't be happening." He said inside his head as tears welled up in his eyes. Meryl put a hand on his shoulder and gently shook him. "Adam, you're the only one that made it out. Evan was taken, but the others didn't make it. And I know you want to mourn, but now isn't the time. We have to get out of here. Now, come on, we have to go." She whispered soothingly to him as she pulled Adam away from the sight of his dead friend and out of the building.

When they exited the building, Adam saw that the entire area had become a war zone. Dead bodies of cadets were spread everywhere. Whatever cadets that were left were off in the distance combating the attackers. "Come on, son. We have to move." The drill sergeant said as they all made their way down the steps of the building and into the courtyard. "There's an evac helicopter on its way. We have to get to the evac site fast or we're going to miss it." Meryl said as they made their way to the helicopters rendezvous point.

After ten minutes of walking and avoiding any sort of combat, the small group of survivors made it to the landing zone where the helicopter was supposed to be, but it hadn't shown up just yet. Meryl reach behind her and pull out a radio from her belt. "Splinter-6, this is Commander Silverburgh! Where the hell are you?!" She shouted into the radio and waited for a response. "Commander, this is Splinter-6! We're en route back to the base to pick you up! We had to drop off a group of survivors!" The pilot of Splinter-6 responded. "Well get your ass moving, I don't know how long we can hold out for down here! So, hurry up!" Meryl shouted into the radio again. "Copy that, Commander!" The pilot responded and then all went quiet, besides the gunfire and shouting in the background.

Meryl, are you certain that the others didn't make it? I can't leave them behind if they're still alive." Adam asked, looking at Meryl with slightly hopeful eyes, but then felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at the drill sergeant. "Son, I'm sorry. Truly, I am, but they're all gone. There's nothing we can do for them now except survive." He answered. Adams lower lip trembled as he lowered his head.

The all waited for what felt like hours, but was only 10 minutes when Meryl's radio went off. "Commander, this is Splinter-6, we see the base from a distance! We're about 5 to 10 minutes away! Just hang on a little longer!" The pilot reported. Meryl smiled and sighed. "Alright, Splinter-6, we'll be here. Just hurry and give us cover in case we have any trouble." She said. "Copy that." The pilot responded.

BANG!!!

Everyone jumped at the sound of the gunshot then looked around to see if anyone was hurt. And by the looks of it, Adam, Meryl and the drill sergeant were fine, until they looked at the female doctor. She looked down at her belly to see large bloodstain forming on her uniform before she ran her hand over her own blood then looked at her hand. She then looked at the three remaining survivors before collapsing to the ground, dead.

"Well, now, I guess this didn't go exactly as I had planned." A voice said, not far from the remaining survivors. "I know that voice." Adam thought as he looked in the direction of the voice to spot a familiar man walking towards them. "Adam! I must say that I am genuinely surprised that you survived the Skulls. If I had a hat I'd tip it out of respect for you, but I'm still impressed nonetheless." The man said with what looked like a smile, but Adam just glared at him.

"You!" Meryl shouted as she looked at the man. The man looks at Meryl and just smirks smugly. "Ah, Commander Silverburgh. How nice to see you again." The man said. "Meryl, you know this guy?" Adam asks her. Meryl nods her head. "Yeah, I do. His name is Ricardo Gomez, aka: the Black Vulture."

She answered, but Ricardo put a finger up.

"Ah, ah, ah, Commander. If you're goi to say my codename, then use my new one. It's not Black Vulture anymore. I am now, Ricardo Gomez, aka: the Treacherous Vulture."


	6. Chapter 6: The Wendigos

**Disclaimer: I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.**

Meryl looked at Vulture blankly and blinked. "Treacherous Vulture, Gomez? Seriously?" She asks with a slight laugh. "Haha, you're not doing yourself any favors when you chose that name." She said.

Vulture just shrugged with a smirk. "Eh, I knew you wouldn't like it Silverburgh. Which is EXACTLY why I chose it." He shot back. Meryl glared daggers at the man before he started speaking again. "However, as much as I would like to continue putting you in your place, I am not here for you. I'm here for some... new recruits of my own. Like Adam here." He said pointing at Adam. A cold chill went down Adams spine as Vulture pointed at him. Meryl looked at Adam then back to Vulture with a look of rage. "Why? Why Adam?" She asked, but Vulture just chuckled. "Why? Because I'd rather have him on my side instead of that one other survivor that we managed to get. He's got a big mouth on him though, and it will get him into trouble." He answered.

"You mean Evan." Adam responded. Vulture chuckled and nodded his head before answering. "Yes, Evan. That little bastard sure has a loud mouth. And you know how they say, confidence is silent. He, however, is not. So, I have no doubt in my mind that he is scared shitless right now." Adam just glared at Vulture with his entire body trembling. "And what about the others? Did they not catch your attention? Why are they dead while Evan and I are still alive? Why are Lynn and the rest of my friends dead?" He asked the man, who then looked at him and just smirked. "Why? Because the three other men weren't really that impressive. It was only you and Evan that caught my eye. But only you managed to get away from the Skulls and escape from the VR trap safely. I still wonder how you managed to do that. As for the beautiful ladies, I regret what happened to them, I really do. However, it's their fault for wanting to join the military in the first place. The military is no place for women, or little girls who want to be a hero." Vulture answered with an even more sickening grin than before.

Adam and Meryl both shook with rage, but held themselves back from doing anything because they knew that they were surrounded by Vultures men, they just couldn't see where they were. Vulture then clapped his hands together with a smile before he spoke again. "Right. Now, that all questions have been answered, I hope, we can now continue with this operation." He said before letting out a loud whistle. A few moments passed before Adam, Meryl and the drill sergeant all heard slow footsteps coming at them from all directions. They then saw 8 tall and bulky men walking out from behind the destroyed buildings and cabins surrounding them with high powered rifles and high tech equipment, but Adam took a closer look at their eyes. Their eyes weren't like the Skulls glowing pale green eyes, but they had a rather bright orange color mixed with yellow.

It was almost like looking straight into a wild animals eyes, or something even more deadly than a regular wild animal, and it unnerved Adam to no end. "Adam, Meryl, I would like to introduce to you my own personal unit. Say hello... to the Wendigos." This made Adam and Meryl shiver. "The Wendigos? There could only be one reason why they're called that, and I already don't like it." Adam thought as Vulture clapped one of the Wendigo soldiers on the shoulder. "And in case you're wondering why they are called the Wendigos. Well, let's just say that these men have seen and done many things to survive for as long as they have. But to be blunt, they've all had to eat they're own comrades in order to survive after they ran out of food and were abandoned by their own allies. The good ol' U.S of A." He answered a question that was never asked.

Adam just stared at these men who stared back at him, Meryl and the drill sergeant. Their eyes then drifted to the corpse of the nurse, then back to Vulture, who sighed and shook his head. "No, men. Remain steady. We've still got a mission to complete." He said to them. The Wendigos just sighed deeply before staring back at the survivors. "First the Skulls, Vulture, now Wendigos? What else have you been creating?" Adam asked Vulture. "Created? I didn't create the Skulls, Adam. The Wendigos? Sure, they're my own creation. But the Skulls? They go as far back as the 80's." He answered. But Adam just looked at the man, confused.

Vulture then tilted his head in confusion too, then smiled and began to laugh. "Hahahahaha! The United States military hasn't changed at all has it? You really don't know the full story and history of Big Boss and his sons, do you? Adam, for what all this is worth, I hope you have the will and strength to survive and keep fighting, kid. Because I have a very, VERY good feeling that you're going to make this interesting." He said to Adam with what looked like a genuine smile. But the moment was interrupted by the sound of a helicopter in the distance that was followed by gunfire.

"COMMANDER, THIS IS SPLINTER-6!!! WE SEE YOU ON THE THERMALS!!! GET TO COVER NOW!!!" They heard the pilot on Meryl's radio as the gunfire from the helicopter inched closer the survivors and the Wendigos. Meryl, Adam and the drill sergeant all took cover under the nearest building/cabin they could get to as the helicopter mowed down the Wendigos while Vulture took cover himself. The helicopter flew past as the Wendigos fell to the ground, but not dead. All 8 Wendigos stood right back up and opened fire on the helicopter. One of them had pulled out a Stinger Missile Launcher and aimed it at the helicopter, which was circling around the area for another round to mow down the Wendigos.

The 7 other Wendigos scattered as the Stinger locked on to the helicopter, but before it could be fired off, the missile, and the Wendigo holding the launcher, suddenly exploded, killing one of the Wendigos. The 7 remaining Wendigos turned to see Adam kneeling on the ground with a Desert Eagle pointed at them. He had shot at the tip of the missile to make it explode before it could be fired off. The rest of the Wendigos all turned their weapons on Adam to shoot him down, but didn't get the chance as Splinter-6 mowed them down again making Adam take cover again. The Wendigos stayed down after the second run, but still weren't dead. They all groaned struggling to get back up as Splinter-6 landed in the area. "Commander! We're clear! Hurry and get on, quick!" The pilot shouted into the radio. Meryl, Adam and the sergeant rushed to the helicopter and was about to hop on board but stopped when they heard a gunshot go off behind them. Adam and Meryl looked behind them to see that the sergeant had fallen to the ground dead. He had been shot in the head by one of the Wendigos.

"Adam! Come on hurry! There's nothing you can do now! Let's go!" Meryl shouted as she climbed into the helicopter with Adam following close behind her. Once Adam had gotten in, Meryl shouted at the pilot. "Pilot, take off now! This is everyone! Hurry!" She orderd as the helicopter rose up into the air and flew as far away from the area as possible. Adam looked out of the helicopters sliding door to see the Wendigos move close to the sergeants corpse before they began to rip the body apart, devouring it. He looked away with sadness as he clenched his fists in anger while Meryl rubbed a hand on his back to try and comfort him. "We'll get them Adam. I promise." She said as the helicopter flew away.

 _1 hour later..._

The helicopter arrived at an unknown location and landed on the helipad before the medics rushed towards it to check on any survivors, but all they saw were Adam and Meryl. Nonetheless, they got them away from the helicopter, sat them down and went through the normal proceedings to check on their mental and physical health. Meryl was perfectly fine, she had gone through this many times in her life, but it would still get to her at times. This is another one of those times. Adam, however, was almost non responsive to the medics. The only answers they would get were small nods and shakes of his head. After a while Meryl had to step in when more medics began to surround him.

"God damn it people leave him be! Give him some room to breathe!" She shouted as she shoved all the medics away.

They all backed away slowly before walking away. Meryl sighed as she put an arm around Adams shoulders to lead him inside the building that was their base of operations. "Come on, Adam, let's get inside so you can get some rest." She said gently as they walked towards the building, but before they walked in, Adam stopped with his head down. Meryl turned to look at him, worried. "Adam? What's wrong?" She asked. Adam looked up at her with determination blazing in his eyes.

"Meryl, I know I didn't earn the code name Snake, but right now I don't care about that. All I care about right now, is what I'm going to do next. And if you're going after Gomez or Vulture or whatever stupid name he wants to call himself, then I want to be part of whatever team that is going to do it. Or I'll do it by myself. I don't care, just let me help you take this son of a bitch down." He said to her, determined to be the one to take Vulture down. Meryl smiled, but sighed then put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll talk about it in the morning, Adam. You're not thinking clearly right now, you've still got adrenaline rushing through your bloodstream. So, the best this for you to do right now is get some rest and sleep on it. If you still want to be part of the group that is going to go after Gomez, then you're more than welcome. But sleep on it for right now. Alright?" She told him calmly.

Adam stood there shaking and thinking that Meryl had turned him down, but he knew she was right. He wasn't thinking too clearly about his decision at the moment, what he wanted RIGHT NOW was revenge and vengeance, not justice. So he breathed deeply and sighed while nodding his head before walking again with Meryl inside the building. Meryl smiled and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Don't worry, Adam. Like I already told you, we'll get him. I promise." She said as she shook him a bit in a friendly way with a smile to get him to laugh or smile. But all she managed to get was a small smile and a nod of his head.

They took an elevator that took them to the middle of the building before she lead him to his new, and maybe temporary, room. She opened the door, with an ID card she got from the front desk, and walked him in. Adam examined the room and just plopped down face first on the bed and sighed deeply. Meryl snorted before putting the ID card on one of the rooms night stands. "Here, use the card to get back into the room if you ever decide to leave it. But if you don't, then I suggest that you get cleaned up and head to bed. You don't want to go to bed all dirty and everything while you're in a civilized environment." She told him.

Adam let out a muffled snort before turning his head to look at Meryl. "Ok, mom." He said with a laugh. Meryl started to laugh. "HAH! Kid, you don't want me as your mother. I'd make your life a living hell. My daughter already blames me enough for that." She continued laughing before walking towards the door then stopped. "Get yourself cleaned up, Adam, and get some rest. That's an order." She said seriously before closing the door.

Adam lay on the bed for a few more minutes before turning over on his back and stretched before getting up and walking into the rooms built in bathroom to take a long hot shower. After the much needed shower, he walked out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom. He threw on some random pajama pants and lied back down onto the bed. He sighed and closed his eyes, but just as he was about to drift asleep the faces of everyone who had died tonight began to haunt him. Lynn, his fellow cadets, the drill sergeant, the nurse and all the other men and women who had died just stared back at him before he woke back up.

Adam wasn't one to cry very often unless he had a good reason to, but tonight was a damn good reason. He covered his face and cried but didn't weep or cry out in pain like other people would, his pride wouldn't allow that. So, he cried for what felt like hours before drifting back asleep. Hopefully, without the faces of his friends waking him up again.

But he made a silent promise that night. To himself and his friends. That he would continue on the legacy of Solid Snake, and make his own legacy while he did. But in order to do that, he would have to take down Ricardo Gomez: aka, the Treacherous Vulture, the Skulls, the Wendigos and anyone else that got in his way.


	7. Chapter 7: The Birth Of A ?

**Disclaimer- I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.**

Adam awoke the next morning feeling a little refreshed after a good nights sleep, but also drained of having to look at the faces of the people who were going to be his brothers and sisters in arms. Those people, who he grew to care for, were now dead. Except for one person that he just remembered was still alive.

Evan.

He stretched himself out before hopping out of the bed to put some clothes on, but before he walked out of the bedroom he turned to look at himself in the mirror. "I can just barely recognize myself. I'm not even a soldier yet and I already feel like I've been through Hell countless times." He thought to himself before shaking his head of negative thoughts and then walked out of the room.

Once Adam walked out and shut the bedroom door he turned to look down the hallway, but Meryl was standing right near the door. "Good morning, Adam. I hoped you slept well." She said to him with a smile, but he just sighed and scratched the back of his head with a laugh. "Just barely. I couldn't sleep without... seeing all their faces." He admitted sadly. Meryl just nodded her head. "Yeah, I understand. I wish I could say that it gets better with time, but I'd be lying if I did. You might get used to it, but it doesn't doesn't get any easier." She said as he nodded. "The job though, ironically, does get easier. And I'm going to be showing you around today, if you're up to it." She said to him.

Adam looked up and nodded his head with a faint smile. "Yeah, I'm up to it. Let's go." He replied. Meryl nodded and began to lead him down the hallway. They both walked towards the elevator and walked into it once the doors opened. They walked in and Meryl pushed a button that would take them down to the lower floors of the base. "Before I start showing you around, Adam, I just want to know if you still want to be part of this? You went through a traumatic experience last night and no doubt there are things that are still bothering you. So, are you sure that you want to be part of taking down Gomez?" She suddenly asked him as they rode the elevator down. Without looking at her, Adam answered. "I'm positive, Meryl. I want to do what's right by my fallen comrades and hopefully save Evan."

Meryl nodded and remained silent as they both waited for the elevator to reach the lower floors.

The elevator soon stopped, indicating that it has reached the lower floors. The doors then opened, revealing to both of them a huge hanger like room with all sorts of armored vehicles, weapons, fighter jets, helicopters and countless military personnel. Adam marveled at the sight, as he has seen nothing like this before. Not even the base camp, where he had began his training, compared to this. Then he heard Meryl laugh behind him. "Get used to this place while you can, Adam. Because none of this will be here for much longer." She said, making Adam turn around, confused. "What? Why?" He asked. Meryl stepped up beside him and leaned on the railing before she answered. "Because despite how big this place is, it's not big enough to hold all these people and all of this equipment. We were running out of room and we started to look at places in the U.S to see if they would live up to what our standards were. Unfortunately, none of the places we looked at were good enough to hold everything that we currently have. Until our Intel Team spotted something out in the Seychelles."

Adam looked at her as she stopped talking and stared at all of the people working below them. "The Seychelles? What did you find there?" He asked her. She looked at him and just smiled. "I'll tell you another time. When you've become one of us officially." She answered with a smile.

Adam wanted to know, but she would tell him later or, hopefully, soon, so he just nodded his head. "Right. Now, let's introduce you to the other members of the team." She said with a clap to his back, before they both walked down the stairs to the hanger. Both Meryl and Adam walked passed all the military personnel, when they came towards a door that lead to a break room, as they walked in, Adam could see a few people waiting for them. One looked like a young man with long platinum blonde hair and blue eyes, another was a young woman with, like the young man, long platinum blonde hair and blue eyes, while the other person was another young woman, with short black hair and light green eyes, however, this young woman looked to be shy and timid, because she would only take short glances at Adam then look away. The last person was an older looking man in his late 40's early 50's, but Adam could already tell who he was.

The platinum blonde young woman and older gentleman looked at them with radiant smiles while the young man looked at them with a stoic look on his face, and the dark haired young woman just continued to look at Adam then quickly look away. It was an awkward silence for a few seconds before Meryl decided to speak. "Sunny, Hal, John, Carla, I would like you to meet Adam. He'll be joining us in our unit soon. Would you like to say hello?" She asked them. Sunny and Hal walked up to Adam first and introduced themselves. "Hi there, Adam. I'm Sunny Emmerich, but you can call me Sunflower when you're out on a mission." Sunny said to him with a bright smile. Then the older gentleman introduced himself. "Hello, Adam, nice to meet you. I'm-" he began but then Adam spoke. "Hal Emmerich, aka, Otacon. I know who you are. I've actually wanted to meet you, but... I wanted to earn that chance. Not... well, not have it happen like last night." He said to him.

Hal nodded. "I understand, but I'll be honest. Whether you earned the codename or not, I wanted to meet you too. When I looked at all the profiles for potential candidates and came across your picture, I did a double take. You look exactly like him, you know?" He said with a chuckle. Sunny snapped her fingers to get their attention. "Sorry for the snapping, but the eyes are still different. You do look like him, but the eyes are a different color." She said with smile. Adam smiled too and nodded. "Yeah, I've been getting that for a while now." He chuckled. Then dark haired girl finally stood up and walked over to the small group.

She stood in front of Adam with her head down, like she had just gotten into trouble, and held out her hand. "H-hello, Mr. Adam. I-I'm C-Carla Anderson but you can call me G-Gizmo when you're out on mission." She said with a trembling voice. She continued to hold her hand out, shaking as she waited for Adam to do something, anything. Adam smiled and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Carla. And please, just call me Adam. Being called Mr. Adam just feels a little weird. As for what you can call me when I'm out on mission... well, I guess we'll figure that out soon." He said with a laugh. Carla still had her head down, but she smiled before turning around to sit back down on the couch that was in the room.

"John? Don't be rude, come say hello." Meryl said to the platinum blonde that was still sitting in the chair. John inhaled and sighed deeply before standing up to walk over to Adam. He stopped in front of him and held his hand out. "I'm John. You can call me Cyber Fox or just Fox when we're out on mission. And let's get one thing straight, I don't know you, you don't know me. We're not friends. So don't expect us to be-" he said but was interrupted by Sunny. "Oh, god, John stop with the tough guy act. You always do this with the new recruits, but we all know that you're really a sweetheart. You read too many comic books and manga." She said putting an arm around his shoulders before pinching his cheek.

John groaned and swatted away Sunny's hands. "Ugh, come on, Sunny! You can't let me get away with it just once? I have to assert dominance here!" He whined while Sunny laughed with everyone in the room. Adam raised an eyebrow. "Assert dominance? Seriously?" He asked. John looked at him and just chuckled. "Sorry, man. I wasn't trying to come off as a dick, but I wanted to try and scare you so you don't get any bright ideas or get too full of yourself. Some new recruits have gotten themselves killed because of that." He admitted. Adam just held out his hand. John looked at his hand and then shook it.

"Don't worry about it. I'd be doing the same thing, but I would've made a a little less obvious." Adam said to him. John looked confused. "How so?" He asked. Then Adam just smiled. "Well, I would've done it my own way and not like... well, Batman." He said with a laugh. John looked at him for a moment then smiled before looking at Meryl. "I like this guy." He said. Meryl smiled and nodded. "Good, because you two are going to be working together very soon." She said before continuing. "Now, Adam, if you will come with me to the next room, we will discuss a codename for you. Since you haven't earned the name "Snake" yet, we will think of a substitute codename for you until then." She said as she walked near another door in the break room that lead to another room.

Adam shrugged and walked with Meryl to the door, but before he walked in, he turned to look at the others. John and Carla just smiled, while Sunny and Hal both smiled and gave him a thumbs up. He smiled and walked in. "Meryl, before we get to the codename, what are we going to do about Evan. If I remember right Vulture said that he is still alive, right?" He asked her as he sat down in a seat. Meryl leaned against the edge of a desk and sighed. "Yes, Evan is still alive, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there." She reassured him. "For the moment, let's think of a codename for you to use when you're out in the field. Now, I know that it's sudden, but can you think of anything that you would like to use? A nickname that you're childhood friends called you or anything like that?" She asked.

Adam looked away from her to think, but after a few moments he sighed and shook his head. "Sorry, Meryl, but no. I've never had a nickname growing up. But there is one thing that I can think of. The thing is I don't even know why I'm remembering it, I had only heard it once when I was a kid." He said to her. Catching Meryl's interest, she leaned towards him. "Where did you hear it, Adam?" She asked, but he gently shook his head. "That's the thing. I don't remember. I remember hearing it once when I was little, then it just faded away. It wasn't until you asked me about a nickname for my codename that I remembered." He admitted.

Meryl stepped away from the desk and sat down in the chair next to Adam's. "So, what is it, Adam? What's the word or the name?" She asked him. Adam closed and squinted his eyes, before he opened them again then looked at Meryl with a look of seriousness on his face.

"Until I earn the codename "Snake", call me Phantom. That's the codename I want to go by." He told her. Meryl just looked at him and smiled.


	8. Chapter 8: Diamond Foxes

**Disclaimer: I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.**

Meryl and Adam walked out of the room both with smiles on their faces. "Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to the newest member of our team. Phantom." She declared. John, Carla, Hal and Sunny all smiled and clapped their hands. "Alright then, Phantom, welcome to the team." Sunny said, walking up to him shaking his hand again. "Thank you, Sunny." Adam said with a smile. Meryl then walked up beside Adam and clapped him on his back. "Now, that, that's out of the way, let's move on to our next order of business. The location of our new Base of Operations." She said as they all proceeded to walk out of the room.

As they were walking to a new room in the base, most likely the Command Room, Adam walked up beside John. "Hey, John, mind if I ask you a question?" He asked him. John looked at him, smiled and nodded his head. "Shoot." But Adam took a moment before he asked. "How did you earn the codename Fox? I understand it's the most difficult codename to earn, but this isn't Foxhound. So, how did you come to earn that name?" He asked. John just smiled.

But before he could answer, a soldier with blonde hair ran up to them shouting with a sheet of paper in his hand. "Commander Silverburgh! Commander Silverburgh! Please, wait!" He shouted. They all stopped and turned around and watched the soldier run up to them before stopping to catch his breath. "Take your time to catch your breath, soldier. What is it?" Meryl asked. But the young man didn't say anything, he just handed her the sheet of paper. She took it and read it thoroughly before she inhaled deeply then sighed. "John?" She called and held out the sheet of paper.

The young man walked up beside her, took the sheet of paper and began to read it himself. It wasn't long before he looked up at the young soldier, then to Meryl and then back to the young soldier. "Where is he, and how long ago was this?" He asked the young soldier. The blonde soldier, who had regained his breath, stood up straight before he answered. "The time of the sighting is unknown, sir, but the location appeared to be somewhere in Tokyo, Japan. That is all the information that's available at the moment." He replied. John looked at the paper again before looking at Meryl. "Commander, I'm sorry, but I-" he began, but Meryl shook her head and grabbed hold of his shoulders.

"John, he's your father. I understand. Go find him." She said with a nurturing smile. John nodded his head, stepped back and saluted Meryl before looking at Adam. "I guess we'll have to wait on working together, Phantom, but this is something I have to do. Take care and good luck." He said before turning around and ran off. Adam walked up beside Meryl and looked at her. "What was that about, Meryl?" He asked. She looked at him then back to John's retreating figure. "Do you know who the cyborg ninja is that helped Snake in the past, Adam?" She asked him before looking back at him.

Adam thought for a moment. "Gray Fox? On Shadow Moses?" He wondered out loud. Meryl shook her head. "You're close, but I'm talking about the other one." She said making Adam think again. "Raiden." He answered before long, making Meryl nod her head. "What about him?" He asked. Meryl looked at Sunny and Hal, who both nodded their heads before she looked back at him to answer. "John is Raiden's son."

Adam looked shocked at this. "He's Raiden's son? Seriously?" He asked. Meryl nodded her head. "But... why does John have to find him? Shouldn't Raiden be working with you guys?" He asked her, making Meryl sigh before they all started walking again to the Command Room. "Do you remember the incidents that happened back in 2018? In Africa, Abkhazia, Mexico, Denver and Pakistan?" She asked him. Adam nodded his head. "Yeah, I remember. I heard it all on the news back in 2018, and then I heard it again after I enlisted." He answered. Meryl nodded again. "Yeah, well, after all those incidents happened, Raiden didn't go back to work with Maverick Security. He just... disappeared. Leaving John and his wife, Rosemary, behind. Although I don't think he intended to leave for as long as he did, but John hasn't seen Raiden in 16 years." She told him.

"16 years? Jesus. Why do you think he's been away for so long?" Adam continued to ask, wanting to get as many details as possible to be able to help John in the near future, but Meryl shrugged. "I have no clue, Adam. I've only met and worked with Raiden once, so it's not like we're close or anything. But I heard a few rumors that during those incidents, Raiden's mental state deteriorated over time. His memories as a child soldier were coming back to haunt him, so, I'm going to guess that's why he left John and Rosemary. Because he didn't want to hurt them and he wanted to put a stop to PF's from kidnapping children to turn them into child soldiers like him. But something must've went wrong as time went on, and then he just disappeared. So, I don't know exactly what happened to Raiden, neither does John, but I'm not going to deny him a chance to help his father when one presents itself." She told him.

Adam nodded, but there was still one more question on his mind. "So, if you and Raiden weren't close friends, then why do you... have his son on your unit?" He asked, making Meryl smile sadly. "Because I understood his feelings of growing up without a father." She answered simply, making Adam nod his head in understanding. After that, Adam remained quiet until they reached the Command Room.

They walked in and soldiers in all corners of the room saluted Meryl before going back to their business. Meryl looked at Adam and held him beside her to present the room in a drastic fashion. "Phantom, welcome... to the reborn FOX Unit. The Diamond Foxes." She pointed to the logo that sat at the top of the room as she stepped away from Adam to let him look. The logo was in the shape of a diamond with the original FOX Unit design sitting in the middle of the diamond with it's name "Diamond Foxes" inside of a ribbon design. Adam smiled. "Nice". He whispered.

Suddenly, one female soldier walked up to Meryl and handed her a sheet of paper. She looked at the paper and then to the female soldier. "So, we're good to go on the recon of the unknown Motherbase in the Seychelles?" She asked. The female soldier nodded. "Yes, ma'am. The soldier of your choice is set to leave the base at 1800 hours to make your way to the Seychelles. He, or she, should arrive there at 0700 tomorrow morning." She answered, making Meryl nod. "Very good. Thank you, soldier. You're dismissed." She said. The female soldier saluted and walked away.

Meryl turned to Adam and smiled. "Well, Adam, or rather, Phantom, this is your first official mission. You are to head to the Seychelles Motherbase and scout the place out to see if it is big enough to accommodate all of our fellow soldiers here and all of our equipment. It's only a scout mission, but just to be safe, I recommend you take some equipment, of your choice, with you to protect yourself should you run into any trouble. You shouldn't, but in my experience, and Snake's by the way, stranger things have happened. But the choice is still up to you." She said as she handed Adam the sheet of paper. Adam took it and read it quickly before looking at Meryl with a look of seriousness. "Will that be all, Commander?" He asked. Meryl nodded. "Yes, that's all." She said. Adam nodded. "Then I will be ready to depart for the Seychelles by 1800 hours." He said before he saluted.

This made Meryl smile, before she saluted herself. "Then you're dismissed, Phantom. And be ready for anything." She commanded. Adam nodded before turning around and walked out of the room. Meryl crossed her arms and smiled widely. Sunny, Carla and Hal looked at her and just smiled as well. "You have a lot of faith in him, Meryl. You never showed this much faith in the past candidates." Hal chuckled. Meryl just shook her head with a smile. "I know, Hal, it's just... he gives me that vibe and feeling like I'm actually working with Snake again. He's going by a different name, sure, but he still gives off that feeling. And it's all because of that I know he's going to do great things. Because he's not looking to surpass Snake, he's looking to be something else. Something that has the potential to be greater than Snake, but we still have time to see what that is." She said with a radiant smile.

This made Sunny shake her head and laugh. "Are you sure it's not because you once had a crush on Snake back then? Because Hal told me all about that when I was growing up. So, are you sure it's not that?" She asked giggling while bumping her elbow into Meryl's side making Hal and Carla chuckle. Meryl blushed and narrowed her eyes. "Shut up, all three of you." She said turning around to look at the huge screen in the room before speaking to Carla. "Gizmo. Go catch up with Phantom and give him a rundown of all the tools and equipment that he will be using in the field when he's not using weapons." She ordered calmy.

Carla, still smiling, nodded her head. "Y-yes, C-Commander." She replied timidly before saluting Meryl and turning to run out of the room to catch up with Adam. Sunny and Hal just smiled before they walked out of the room, leaving a blushing Meryl behind. As they left, the red haired commander just stared at the huge screen with a smile on her face before she started to chuckle.

 _With Adam..._

Adam walked up to the equipment area to look for any useful weapons and tools to use for his upcoming mission. As he looked around, he heard a voice call out to him. "Adam! I mean, Phantom! Wait a moment!" Adam turned around to see Carla running up to him. "Hey, Carla, what's up?" He asked her. Carla stopped in front of him and paused to catch her breath, when she did, she looked at him. "The Commander ordered me to give you a quick rundown of the tools you'll be using when you're out in the field. Or at least the two most important ones. That's what I think she had in mind, I think... I hope." She answered. Adam nodded. "Alright, which two most important tools am I going to be using?" He asked her.

Carla motioned for him to follow her to a table seemed to belong to her, as it had a lot of tinkered things that had yet to be finished. As Adam looked at all of it, he turned to her. "You made all this stuff?" He asked. She didn't look at him, but she nodded her head. "Yeah, I did. There are a lot of things that I'm not done creating. Since I started working with Diamond Foxes, I've been a busy bee. But more importantly, here are the two most important tools you'll be using out in the field." She said as pulled out two items and set them on the table.

She picked up the first device, that resembled a futuristic phone, and presented it to him. "This here, is called an iDroid. It's an incredibly updated version of the one that Big Boss used back in '75 when it was first created. After the 70's and 80's, it kinda fell off the military's radar, but Diamond Foxes decided to bring it back and reboot it. Because it was more reliable than the Soliton Radar when it came to the weather. For example, if a sandstorm were to hit when a soldier is out in the field, they can use the iDroid to maneuver their way around enemies and remain unseen. As long they marked their location on the map with the Int-Scope, of course. And speaking of which..." She paused as she picked up the pair of binoculars. "This is called the Int-Scope. Now, of course, it's just a pair of binoculars, but it's better than regular binoculars actually. It's linked up to the iDroid to where enemies will show up on the iDroids map after you mark them with the Int-Scope. It also has a zoom feature that will allow you to mark enemies that are a good distance away." She said as she gave the binoculars to Adam.

He put both the iDroid and Int-Scope inside a bag. "Thanks, Carla. Is there anything else that I might need?" He asked her. She blinked before she looked away for a moment. "Hmm... not that I can think of... wait!" She shouted before she ducked underneath the table again and shuffled some stuff around for a bit before bringing out a small, square shaped container. "Now, everyone here at Diamond Foxes has got a standard issue 9mm pistol, but I feel that you are a special case, Adam. So, I see no reason why you shouldn't have this." She said as she opened the container to reveal a gray gunmetal 1911 Colt with a suppressor lying next to it.

Adam's eyes widened when Carla took the gun out of the container and handed it to him. "Holy shit, Carla. Did you make this?" He asked her as he examined it. She just smiled widely and nodded her head. "This is beautiful." He said in awe as he looked at it closely. "You're sure I can have this, Carla? Because I'm not sure if I should just take such a masterpiece from you." He said to her with uncertainty. Carla, for the first time since being around Adam, giggled and just nodded her head. "You're sweet, Adam, but yes, I'm sure. I've actually been meaning to give it away for a while now. I've just never met anyone here that I felt would be suited for this Colt. That is until I met you today. I still feel... shy around you, but I can tell you're a sweet and a nice guy, so, I feel just fine giving this to you." She said with confidence.

Adam still wasn't sure, but he didn't want to refuse Carla and make her feel bad, so, he smiled and nodded his head before putting the Colt back in the container. "Thank you, Carla. I'll put this beauty to good use. You have my word." He said to her, making her smile widely again. "I know you will, Adam." She replied back to him. Adam picked up the container and held it before looking around for anything else around Carla's table that he might need. "Is there anything else, Carla? Or is that all?" He asked her.

"At my table?That's all. But you might want to take another look around at the other R and D tables for anything else you might need before you set out soon. May I make a quick recommendation?" She asked him. He nodded, making her walk to another table, with him behind her. She soon stopped at one of the Assault Rifles tables and picked up an AM MRS-4 before handing it to him. "The Colt is your secondary, the AM MRS-4 is your primary. Of course, if you want a sniper rifle too, well, that's up to you, but for the moment and for your first mission, I recommend this." She said, pointing at the assault rifle. "Now, other than what your other choices are going to be, that's all I recommend for now." She concluded. Adam looked at the assault rifle, the container holding the 1911 Colt and his bag that held the iDroid and Int-Scope, before looking back at Carla and nodded. "Alright then, I think I'm set Carla. Thanks again." He thanked her.

She smiled and nodded. "I'm here if you need me, Adam, and when you're out in the field, if you ever need any help, advice or there is a weapon you find that you're unfamiliar with, just give me a call on the radio." She said, making him nod. "I'll be sure to do that, Carla. Thanks for the help. In the meantime, I'm going to make myself familiar with the Int-Scope and iDroid. I don't want to go out into the field here in a few hours and not know how to use them. That'll get me killed real quick." He said with a laugh. Carla smiled and shook her head. "Don't joke like that, Adam, but I understand what you're saying. Well, let me know if you need anything and I'll be happy to help." She said to him with a smile.

Adam nodded. "I'll do that. Thanks, Carla. I'll see you around." He said before walking off to find an area where he can be alone to figure out how both the Int-Scope and iDroid works. Carla walked away as well before long to get back to her own devices.

 _Hours later, Diamond Foxes base, 1800 hours..._

Adam walked towards the helicopter that was sitting at the helipad, as he approached, he saw Meryl standing near the helicopter. "Come to see me off, Commander?" He asked. She nodded her head. " I did, but I also wanted to give you these. You might need them." She said, handing out a pair of Night Vision goggles to him. "The electricity at the Seychelles Motherbase might have stopped working decades ago, so you're going to need these in case the inside of the base is dark. So, keep these extra close to you and don't lose them. Understand, soldier?" She ordered. Adam put the goggles inside his survival bag and nodded. "Good. Now, get going. The sooner we know that the Seychelles Motherbase qualifies for our needs, the sooner that Diamond Foxes can move to it's new home." She said before Adam saluted her and proceeded to climb into the helicopter.

Adam hopped into the helicopter and closed the sliding door before sitting down. He sighed deeply to calm his mind. "You've got this, Adam. You've got this." He whispered to himself softly. "Alright, Phantom, we're taking off. Strap yourself in and hold on tight." The helicopter pilot called out as Adam felt the helicopter rise up off the ground and proceed to fly off towards his first mission.

The Seychelles Motherbase.


	9. Chapter 9: A Small Forgotten Memory

**Disclaimer: I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.**

 _Seychelles Waters, 0700 Hours..._

Phantom had fallen asleep during the ride to the Seychelles Motherbase, and was sleeping better than he had the previous night. Either because the hum of the helicopters engines had calmed him in a way, or it was just the feeling of being up in the air. He didn't know which one it was that had calmed him, but he wasn't about to complain.

Long before he had fallen asleep, he looked at himself and examined his mission attire. He is wearing gray cargo pants with black knee pads, black combat boots, a black short sleeved shirt with black combat gloves, and, of course, the black survival bag around his waist. He has his 1911 Colt in a holster around his thigh and the AM MRS-4 on his hip. He also has a patch of the Diamond Foxes insignia on his left shoulder, to show where his loyalty belongs. All of this, the patch included, made Phantom feel pretty damn good. After the reality settled in for him, that's when Phantom had fallen asleep to rest up for the mission.

The next morning, Phantom had started to wake up from his slumber until the pilot shouted. "Holy shit! Phantom, come look at this!" Phantom got up from his seat in the back of the helicopter and rushed up to the cockpit. When he looked out the front of the helicopter, he was greeted to a remarkable sight. There was the Seychelles Motherbase, rusty and weathered, but it was a sight to behold, and the place was bigger than he thought it would be. 7 platforms with 3 extra platforms right next to them, all a total of 28 platforms in one area of the sea, and the Command Platform was at the center of them all. "Jesus Christ. This place is huge." He exclaimed. The pilot nodded. "You want to land on the Command Platform?" He asked.

Phantom nodded. "Yeah, take me to the Command Platform. I can find out all I need to know there. If the electricity is still working though, but I highly doubt it." He responded as he made his way back to the back of the helicopter to be near the sliding doors. The pilot nodded and maneuvered the helicopter to make its way to the Command Platform. It was only a few minutes until they got close enough for Phantom to open the helicopters sliding door and waited for the helicopter to get close enough for him to drop down onto the Command Platform.

When the helicopter stopped and hovered just above the helipad, Phantom dropped down and looked at the place surrounding him as the helicopter flew away. "Alright, Phantom, be careful. Give me a call on the radio or radio the base if you need help." The pilot said. Adam nodded before he looked up at the platforms Command Room, that stood tall above him, and saw that there was a faded logo of the previous owners of the base. He could just barely make out the shape of a diamond and in the center of it was a black smudge of what he could only guess was once a dog. There was also a ribbon design near the bottom of it, but the name had faded away, so, he couldn't read the name. Phantom smiled and just chuckled. "I'm having a strong sense of dejavu here, and I don't know why." He said as he shook his head.

He held his primary ready to shoot if anything or anyone decides to pop out. He then made his way to the stairs and slowly walked his way up the platform to find a way into the Command Room. When he found a door that lead inside the Command Platform, he lowered his primary before he proceeded to try and pry the door open. When it wouldn't budge, he pulled out his survival knife and slipped it into the tight crack where the door would open.

He used whatever leverage he had to pry open the door with the knife and struggled to give himself an opening to slip through. When he got just enough of an opening, he slipped half of his body into the opening and pushed the door open. He exhaled sharply and put the knife back in its place before he walked through the door, but before he got too far down the narrow corridor, he turned around to check and see if the door would shut, but it didn't look like it would, so he proceeded further, but he stopped before long and looked up.

The lights were on.

"The electricity is still working? How's that possible?" He asked himself. "Well, I guess I won't need the Night Vision goggles for a while." He thought as he continued to make his way to the Command Room. As he neared the door, he walked slowly and cautiously before popping into the room and checked all corners of the room. When he confirmed to himself that it was all clear, he lowered his primary and walked over to the central terminal that was in the front of the room. He used the keyboard to bring up the security camera feeds that were on all the platforms. Besides the fuzzy picture feed on the cameras, everything from the Combat Platform to the Medical Platform looked all clear... except the R and D Platform.

From what he could see from the security feed, it looked like there was something patrolling the outside of the platform. That is until Phantom saw a second something patrolling the inside of the platform. "What the hell are those?" He whispered as he tried to find a to make the security feed more clear. _"Who are you?"_ A feminine voice suddenly asked behind him, making him turn around quickly with his secondary at the ready... but there was no one else in the room with him. He looked around to make sure that he wasn't hearing things, or that he wasn't going crazy too early, until he heard the voice again. _"Snake?"_ The voice asked.

Phantom looked around until he saw a security camera. "A security camera? How did I miss that?" He asked himself until the camera suddenly disappeared then reappeared again. Then it made sense. "Stealth camouflage on a security camera. That's pretty smart." He thought. Then the voice spoke again. _"No... it's not you... is it, Jack?"_ It asked him. "Jack? Who's Jack?" He thought. And then voice spoke again. _"Who are you?" It asked him again. Phantom didn't know what to do, but had to make a decision._

So, he decided to respond to whoever was talking. "I don't know any Jack, but my name is Phantom. Who are you?" He asked, but it was a moment before he heard the voice again. _"My name is..."_ It had started, but stopped. And it didn't speak again for a while until Phantom spoke. "Hey! I gave you my name, now it's your turn! Who are you?" He asked. But the voice didn't say anything again for a few more minutes, until the whole room suddenly turned red and then the voice spoke again. _"My name, for the moment, is not important. However, I would like to know who you are and why you are here."_ The voice replied with a soft but sharp tone.

Phantom didn't like where this was going. If whoever he was talking to was a person, then they have control over the whole base, and with the situation he is currently in, they have control over the Command Platform right now. So, he needed to be smart and try not to provoke them. "Who I am is not important right now either. All I'm trying to do is scope this place out for my comrades and myself. We want to use this place as our new base of operations, but we didn't know that there was someone already here." He answered honestly. It was a moment before the voice responded. _"There... isn't anyone else here. There is no one else alive here on this base."_ The voice responded.

This response confused Phantom. No one else alive on the base? Isn't the person that he is currently talking to alive? What game are they trying to play? "What about you? Aren't you alive? And you're on this base, which brings me back to this question... who are you?" He asked. But the voice didn't respond again for a few minutes. Phantom waited patiently until it did. _"I... am not alive. I am not even a person. I am just... a shell, a shadow of someone that has long since passed on from this life."_ The voice answered, confusing Phantom.

He just stared at the camera before he spoke again. "Then... what are you?" He asked.

It didn't take long for the voice to respond to that question. _"I... am what's left of a place that used to be called... home. I am just... a small fragment of a memory that has been long forgotten. I... am what remains of... the Diamond Dogs."_ The voice answered.

"The Diamond Dogs? Is that what the previous owners of this place were called?" Phantom asked. _"Yes. The Diamond Dogs were the reincarnation of the MSF, Big Boss's former unit after FOX. And then after Diamond Dogs, he lead Outer Heaven."_

Big Boss? Phantom never read ANYWHERE of Big Boss leading another mercenary group othen then Outer Heaven. Just what the hell was going on?

"Big Boss once lead the Diamond Dogs? But... that doesn't make sense. He only lead Outer Heaven. There have been no official reports saying that he lead a group called Diamond Dogs or MSF." Phantom replied to the voice, before it responded back. _"I'm not surprised that you don't know the full story. The U.S government does like to bury a lot of secrets. I will be happy to tell you everything that I know about Big Boss's history from his MSF days to Outer Heaven, but first, I must ask that you do something for me."_ The voice said, but Phantom wasn't on board just yet, even if the offer to know more about Big Boss was tempting.

"What do you want me to do?" Phantom asked. The security camera then turned to point at the central terminal. _"Take a look at the security feed. Give me a moment to clear up the image."_ The voice requested before Phantom walked over to the terminal. He looked at the security feed as the image was clearing up. It then revealed two huge canine looking machines patrolling the outside and inside of the R and D platform. "What the hell are those things?" Phantom asked. _"They are the next generation Bio-Oraganic Machines called the Fenrirs, or rather The Fenrir Combat Unit. They are the ones that are to replace the Gekkos."_ The voice answered, but this wasn't clearing anything up for Phantom. "So, what exactly is it that you want me to do?" He asked.

 _"I wish to ask you to exterminate these creatures, so that we can meet in person. Face to face. One is on the outside, patrolling the platform. The other is making it's patrol on the inside. Exterminate the Fenrir, and then we can talk about you and your comrades moving into the old Diamond Dogs Motherbase. I will tell you where their weak spots are to make things a little easier for you."_ The voice responded. Phantom looked at the security camera, which was looking at him, before he looked back at the security feed. He sighed and nodded his head. "Alright, I'll do it. But how am I going to get to the platform with being seen by the Fenrir patrolling the outside? It's a long walk to the platform." He wondered.

The security camera pointed back to the terminal. _"Take out whatever device you're carrying, and link it up to the terminal. This will allow us to communicate through the device and allow me to keep track of you. I will tell you what you will do after you link up the device."_ The voice command softly, but Phantom wasn't so sure about being tracked by someone, or something, he doesn't even know. "I don't know if I should do that or not. I don't even know who you are. So, how do I know that I can trust you?" He asked. The camera looked back at him before the voice responded again. _"Because I already know that I can trust you, Phantom. You remind me a lot of someone I used to know. And you don't have to trust me 100%. Just trust me enough to keep you safe and out of harms way."_ The voice responded.

Phantom still wasn't sure, but if he wanted to claim this entire base, then he would have to get rid of both Fenrir's. If he doesn't, then they could cause a lot of trouble for himself and his new comrades.

So he pulled out the iDroid and walked up to the terminal, he then pulled out it's cord before plugging it into the iDroid. The iDroid downloaded the terminals data before he pressed a button on the device to accept the new data. He pulled the cord out of the iDroid and it away before he looked up at the camera." Alright, what do I do now?" He asked.

The voice then responded. _"Make your way out of this building, and head down to one of the life rafts on the side of the platform. I'll lower the life raft and I'll explain everything while you make your way to the R and D Platform."_ Phantom nodded at this and proceeded to walk out the the Command Room.

He then stopped at the door and turned around to look at the security camera, which turned to look at him as well. "I'm counting on you, so, don't make me regret this." He said.

 _"You won't..."_ The voice replied. Phantom then turned back around and walked out of the room to leave the building.

 _"Snake."_ The voice whispered.


	10. Chapter 10: The Fenrir Combat Unit

**Disclaimer: I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.**

 _Tokyo, Japan, 11:50 AM..._

John was being lead through the rain to an alleyway in Tokyo, to check the last sighting of his father, Raiden. He walked past the yellow tape as a Tokyo police officer lead him to the body, which was being covered by a tarp. He walked up to the body and kneeled down beside it before he lifted up the tarp just enough to see the face of the person that was murdered. And to John's shock and sorrow, it was Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar, the man that saved his father so many years before.

After his father's disappearance, the good doctor was a big part in John's life, teaching him all things science. He even helped develop John's cybernetic suit, a suit that resembles Gray Fox's cyborg body during the Shadow Moses Incident, helmet and all.

When John examined Dr. Madnars body, he noticed that were were multiple cuts all around his body, which indicates that his father had killed him. But why? Dr. Madnar saved his father twice in the past. Why would he kill him? John couldn't understand it, and it had already started to frustrate him.

John shook his head before he put the tarp back over the body. "Goodbye, old man. I'm sorry." He whispered softly before he stood up and walked over to the police officer that brought him here. _"Do you know when the time of death might have been?"_ He asked the officer in Japanese. The officer then answered. " _Our forensics team estimates that the possible time of death is within 24 hours."_ He answered. "24 hours? That's around the time that the base camp was attacked with Adam." John thought. "But... the timing seems too perfect. Way too perfect. I think there might be something more going on." He thought as he looked back at the tarp that covered Dr. Madnars deceased body.

He turned back around and looked at the officer again. _"Thank you for bringing me here. Could you take me to the hotel please?"_ He asked him. The officer nodded and walked him back to the police car. John hopped in the back of the car and waited for the officer to start driving. "I have to get back to base and report this to Meryl. I hope Adam is doing alright with his first mission." He thought as the police car took him back to the hotel.

 _Seychelles Waters, Diamond Dogs Motherbase, 7:30 AM..._

Phantom rowed the life raft to the bottom of the R and D Platform and found a ladder to climb up. He grabbed hold of the ladder and climbed up to find a way inside the platform to dispose of the Fenrir patrolling inside. As he climbed up, he found an emergency hatch to climp up inside the platform. He opened the hatch, climbed up inside and closed the hatch, however, unlike the Command Platform, the lights inside the R and D Platform were off, leaving Phantom inside of the platform, with the patrolling Fenrir, shrouded in darkness. _"Remember, Phantom, when you encounter the Fenrir, aim for the head or it's chest to destroy it's power source. And aim carefully. The Fenrir Combat Unit was designed to be silent, fast and deadly. So, be careful."_ The voice reminded him over the radio.

Phantom nodded his head. "I remember. I'll do the best I can, so, for now, I'm going radio silent. I'll let you know when they've both been taken down." He whispered as he took out the Night Vision goggles and put them on his head. He readied his primary and walked slowly, and silently, down the narrow corridor of the platform.

It wasn't long until he heard the thudding footsteps of the first Fenrir that was patrolling the inside of the R and D platform near the first corner of the corridor. Phantom hugged the wall tight when he reached the corner, and took a big risk when he peeked his head from the corner to fully see what he was up against, and which direction it was going. Just like the security feed, the first Fenrir was indeed a huge canine looking machine and, thankfully, it looked to be heading in the other direction, opposite of Phantom. When it finished scanning the corridor, it turned and walked in the other direction, so, Phantom decided to try and take another risk by slowly walking up behind it to take it out quickly and silently.

But what would he take it out with? That was the question that currently lingered in his head. As Phantom continued to silently follow the unsuspecting Fenrir, he thought of countless scenarios in his head to figure out a way to take out the first Fenrir, but when each scenario turned out to be his death instead of the Fenrir's defeat, he made a split decision. "Aw, fuck it." He thought as he broke into a run and jumped on top of the Bio-Oraganic Machines back. The Fenrir, startled by the sudden increase of weight, began to jump and thrash around in the narrow corridor of the platform like a mad bull.

Phantom, holding on to the Fenrir tight while climbing up further on its back, managed to climb up to the machines head, readied his primary, and unloaded the entire magazine into the Fenrir's head, hoping to hit its power source. After Phantom emptied the magazine, the Fenrir stopped thrashing and just plopped down on the floor with a loud thud. Phantom then hopped off it's back unloaded the empty magazine and loaded another one into the assault rifle. He quickly made his way through the corridors of the platform to find a way outside. When he found a door leading outside, he removed the goggles and checked both his left then right to make sure he doesn't unintentionally run into the second Fenrir.

When he saw that the coast was clear, he walked outside slowly so he doesn't alert the Fenrir and lead it to his location. Just when he reached the first corner outside, he heard something growling behind him. He instantly stopped and slowly turned his head to the side to see the second Fenrir, standing ten or so feet away, staring right at him. The Fenrir's growling began to get louder and louder, before Phantom broke into a run away from the machine to get some distance. The Fenrir took off after him and chased him around the R and D Platform to catch him. Phantom didn't know the R and D Platforms corners all too well, but whenever he would see a quick turn to gain same distance away from the pursuing Fenrir, he would take that turn every chance he had.

While he was being chased in circles around the platform by the Fenrir, he readied the grenade launcher on his primary to use it as a way to finish off the machine quickly. After he made another turn away from the Fenrir, he readied his primary and quickly turned around to fire the grenade at the machine... but it wasn't there. Phantom checked the surroundings all around him to find the Bio-Oraganic Machine, but it was no where in sight. Until...

 **Thud... Thud... Thud...**

"ABOVE ME!" He shouted at himself as he pointed his primary upwards to see the Fenrir jump down from one of the platforms buildings towards him.

He fired the grenade at the Fenrir, which exploded upon impact, and heard the machine roar loudly. The blast of the explosion sent Phantom flying into one of the platform buildings walls, before knocking him out. "Ugh..." He groaned as his vision blurred while he watched the roaring Fenrir thrash around in pain while trying to put out the fire.

 _Moments later..._

 _"...antom... you ok... ple... swer me..."_ Phantom heard the voice on the radio calling out to him. He shook his head to shake away his grogginess before he attempted to stand up. _"Phantom, are you alright? Please respond."_ He heard the voice again. When he felt well enough to reply, he answered. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was knocked out cold." He answered as he found the charred, burnt remains of the second Fenrir. There were still small flames surrounding it, but nothing too big to worry about. _"Thank goodness. You didn't reply for twenty minutes after the explosion so I got worried."_ The voice admitted, making Phantom nod his head. "Yeah, sorry about that. The Fenrir almost got the jump on me. Literally." He sighed.

He then walked to the edge of the platform and sighed again when he felt the cool breeze brush against him. He stood like that for a moment before spoke again. "Alright, both the Fenrir's have been taken care of. Now, where are you?" He asked the voice. _"Make you're way up the top of the platform. I'm in a hollow hole in the center building."_ The voice responded. Phantom looked confused, but he wasn't going to argue, so, he found the nearest stairway and walked his way up to the top.

When he reached the top of the center building and looked down into the hollow hole that the voice told him about, there was nothing there. Just an empty space with a large, cylinder shaped pod near the center of the hole. "Alright, I'm here, but... where are you?" He asked. The voice quickly responded.

 _"You're looking right at me, Phantom."_

The voice answered, and as it answered, the red light on the pod blinked.

Phantom was shocked at this. Wanting to get closer, he climbed down the ladder into the hole, and walked up to the pod. "What are you?" He asked it. _"I already told you, I am what's left of a memory that has been long forgotten in history. But, if you want a technical answer, I am an artificial intelligence created by a woman named Dr. Vanessa Strangelove. I was created by her to resurrect a personality of someone that had passed away. Someone she cared about, but I doubt those feelings were ever returned in kind."_ The AI pod answered.

"Then, whose personality did Strangelove try to resurrect?" Phantom asked. _"You are not going to remember her name, let alone even know it, Phantom. She, like many others before her and after, has been erased from history. She was the greatest hero of the 20th century, but that will all be stories for another time. For now, I am happy to tell you that I will allow you and your comrades to make this base your new base of operations. Contact your superior, and tell them that this base is ready to be claimed, should they want it."_ The AI pod told him. Phantom smiled and nodded his head. "Believe me, my Commander wants this place badly. And she has every intention of moving Diamond Foxes here, whether she has your consent or not." He told the AI pod.

 _"The Diamond Foxes? Hmm, the rebirth of two memories. That's a calming thought. But regardless, you're all welcome here, and I can help you bring this base back to it's former glory. Whatever's left of that glory at least."_ The AI pod said to him. Phantom nodded his head. "Well, on behalf of all the Diamond Foxes, I thank you... uhhh... what should I call you?" He asked. The AI pod thought for a moment before it answered. _"Hmm... well, I never had a name in the past, so, I don't know what you can call me really, but... if you like... you can call me The Boss."_ It responded.

Phantom tilted his head and smiled. "The Boss?" He asked. Then the AI made a sound, that sounded like a laugh, before answering. _"I'll explain another time. For now, contact your superior and make your preparations."_ The "Boss" responded, making Phantom nod his head. "Alright, then. I'll contact my Commander and head back to base. Then we can start moving everything here." He said as he turned around to contact Meryl. _"Wait, Phantom..."_ The Boss said. Phantom stopped and turned back around to look at the pod. "What is it?" He asked. _"You wouldn't happen to know a Hal Emmerich, would you?"_ The AI asked. Phantom looked at the Boss confused. "You know Otacon? How?" He asked.

The Boss "sighed" before it answered. _"Just... I'll tell that tale another time. Contact your superior and make your preparations."_ The Boss answered, making Phantom nod his head before contacting Meryl.

 _*Static*_

"Phantom? What is it? Is everything alright?" Meryl asked as Phantom contacted her. He nodded his head. "Yeah, everything is fine, Commander. I ran into some... resistance, but it's been taken care of. Bring in a clean up team to get rid of the cluster. Also, I'm calling to report that the Seychelles Motherbase is bigger than we thought it would be." He answered. Meryl waiting a moment before responding. "Meaning... what?" She asked, making Phantom smile. "Meaning, that the Seychelles Motherbase has more than enough room to become the Diamond Foxes new motherbase." He answered.

Meryl was silent for a moment longer before she replied, though Phantom could already tell what she was about to do. "YES!!!" She shouted. Phantom chuckled.

"I'll send your helicopter back to pick you up, then we can continue things when you get back to base." She said before she ended the radio conversation. Phantom smiled and shook his head, before turning around to look at the AI pod. "Well, I'm going to be leaving soon. Are you... going to be ok here? Alone?" He asked the Boss. The AI laughed. _"Phantom, I've been alone here for over 50 years. I think I'll be just fine for a few hours or days."_ It responded. Phantom nodded his head and contacted the pilot to pick him up at the R and D platform.

As he began to walk away, the AI called out to him one more time, making him stop. _"Phantom... wait. I have a request."_ It said. He looked confused for a moment, but decided to find out what the request would be. "What is it?" He asked. The AI hesitated before speaking. _"Hal, or as you know him, Otacon, will you be working with him?"_ It asked. Phantom was now even more confused about the AI's interest in Otacon. "Absolutely. Why?" He asked. The AI hesitated again. _"When you come back here, will you... bring Hal back with you? To this platform?"_ It asked. Phantom paused for a moment before he nodded. "Well, he is a scientist, so, he's going to be working at this platform anyway. Along with his adopted daughter, but sure, I can bring him here. Why? What's your interest in him?" He asked again.

 _"Because I have something to tell him, and him alone. If he wants to tell you, then I'm sure he will when he's ready. But for now, what I want to tell him is for him. So, when you come back this base, will you bring him here to me? Please?"_ The Boss asked seriously, but there was also sorrow hidden behind it's tone. Phantom just stood there for a moment before nodding his head. "Alright, sure. I'll bring him to you. You have my word. I don't know when we'll get back here, so, just be patient." He answered politely.

The Boss answered again. _"Phantom, being patient is what I'm good at. So, please, take your time, just remember to bring Hal to me when you make your way back here."_ It said. Phantom nodded before turning around to climb up the ladder and make his way to the helipad. As he neared the helipad, he could see the helicopter in the distance. "This is Echo-5, arriving shortly at LZ." He heard the pilot say on the radio.

It was only a few seconds later when Echo-5 arrived at the helipad. The sliding door opened and Phantom hopped in. Once he closed the sliding door, the helicopter rose higher into the air. "Gaining altitude." The pilot said as Phantom watched the AI pod and the, soon to be, Diamond Foxes Motherbase shrink in the distance.

The ride back to the current Diamond Foxes base gave Phantom some time to think about something. "The Fenrir Combat Unit was only patrolling the R and D Platform. Why? Because of the Boss? Or was it because of some other reason? Or both? Either way, this all seems to be too suspicious to drop and forget. There's something more going on. And we all need to be extra careful from here on out." He thought to himself.

"I need to report everything that happened to Meryl when I get back. Something fishy is going on, and we need to find out what." He thought as Echo-5 made it's way back to base.


	11. Chapter 11: Reports and New Missions

**Disclaimer: I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.**

 _Diamond Foxes Texas Base..._

Echo-5 landed back at the current Diamond Foxes base, and Adam could see Meryl, Carla, Sunny, John and Hal waiting for him. He smiled and shook his head before opening the sliding door. He then hopped out as Meryl walked up to him with a wide smile on her face. She clapped him on the back and hugged him tight. "Great job, Adam, I knew you could do it." She said proudly. Adam smiled and hugged Meryl back. "Thanks, Meryl, the thing is though, it wasn't easy. And as much as I want to celebrate my first successful mission, it will have to wait because I have something to report." He replied seriously.

Meryl looked at him for a moment then nodded. "Alright. That's good, because John has something to report too. Come on, let's find somewhere private to discuss your reports." She said before she looked at the others and motioned them to follow her and Adam. She, Adam and the others then walked into the base and made they're way to a room that was far from the staff that were currently working.

Once they walked in, Meryl shut the door and motioned for the others to take a seat. "Alright, this room is sound-proof. Nothing gets in, nothing gets out. Whatever is said in here, stays between all of us. Understand?" She asked before they all nodded. She then nodded herself before continuing. "Alright. Now, John, you will go first. Adam, you will go next." She said before sitting down as John leaned forward in his chair to speak. "Right. Um... as you all know, a soldier two days ago came up to Meryl with a report regarding my father, Raiden. He was sighted in Tokyo, Japan, along with a dead body. A male. Late 80's early 90's. The body was a man that had saved my father twice. Dr. Madnar."

This made Meryl lean forward in her seat. "Dr. Madnar is dead?" She asked. John nodded. "When?" She asked again. John shook his head before he answered. "Unfortunately, the Tokyo police don't know all of the details, there was so little evidence there that they don't even have much to go on. But, their forensics team estimated that the doctors time of death was within 24 hours. 48 hours if you count today." He informed them, making them all think, but Meryl had already figured it out. "24 hours? That's around the time that-" She began, but Carla finished her thought.

"It's around the time that the base camp was attacked, while Adam and the other candidates were also there." She finished. Everyone turned their heads and looked at Adam. Making him look at them all before leaning forward in his seat to breath.

After a few deep breaths, he lifted his head up and looked at John. "Dr. Madnar was murdered while the base camp was being attacked?" He asked. John nodded again, making Adam shake his. "Why do I have the most disturbing feeling that the timing seems too perfect?" He asked. "Because it is too perfect. There's something much more going on other than Vulture waging war against Diamond Foxes. And until we find out what that is, we need to be extra careful from here on." John added, before leaning back in his chair.

"I would continue with my report if there was anything else to say, unfortunately, there isn't. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for anything else that may happen." He said with disappointment on his face. Meryl nodded before reassuring him. "Don't worry about it, John, we'll all keep our eyes open. You won't be doing this alone. We'll help you, understand?" She said to him with a smile. John smiled back and nodded. "Right. Thank you, Commander." He answered, before Meryl dropped her smiled and looked at Adam. "Alright, Adam. What is your report?" She asked.

Adam sat up straight and began his report. "My first mission was going smoothly at first. I went up to the command room on the Command Platform to find out if there was anything I needed to know before I came back to base to make my report. But, as I made my way to the room, I realized that the electricity was still working on the platform. And not just the Command Platform, it's still working on the entire base." He began, before Hal popped in. "What? How? The Seychelles Motherbase has been abandoned for over 50 years. How's that possible?" He asked him. "I'll get to that, Hal. May I continue, please?" Adam said to him.

Hal leaned back in his seat and nodded. "Yeah, go ahead, Adam. Sorry." He apologized, before Adam continued. "Right. Now, again, the electricity for the base is still working, and the base itself is in good condition. But I highly recommend we clean the entire place up before we move any of the heavy stuff there. We don't want the place to still be rusty as hell, have it collapse under us and we end up losing a bunch of Diamond Foxes personnel in the process. Now, as for what's been keeping the base going for all these years is an AI pod that has, supposedly, been there since the previous group was there. Diamond Dogs." Adam paused then looked at Meryl.

"Diamond Dogs? The name doesn't sound familiar, but I guess the founder of Diamond Foxes must've gotten inspiration from that group before forming it. I'll have to talk to him and find out." She said before motioning for Adam to continue, but Hal sat in his seat with a look of confusion on his face. "Diamond Dogs? Why does that sound so familiar to me?" He wondered before he continued to listen to Adam's report.

"Well, it, or she, has been keeping the base going all these years. And it made contact with me in the command room on the main platform. But before she did, I looked at the security feed to see if there may have been any enemy forces that made it to the base before we did, and it looked like someone did from what I could see. However, due to the bases outdated tech, it was difficult to see what was patrolling the R and D Platform. With the AI's help, after a brief conversation, she cleared up the security feed and I could see clearly what they were. They're called the Fenrir Combat Unit. There were two of them. One patrolling the inside of the platform, while the other was patrolling the outside." The mention of the Fenrir's made Meryl and the other's sit up straight in their seats.

"Do you know who may have sent them? And how did you even survive? Some of the best Diamond Foxes soldiers have had a run in with them before, and we've had to bury what was left of them." Sunny said with worry and sorrow. Adam shook his head. "I don't know who sent them, Sunny. That's what scares me. It may have been Vulture, but I don't know. As for how I survived, the AI gave me some help. I did all the grunt work, while it provided me with backup and info." He answered. Hal looked at him with a worried look. "That's a lot of trust that you put into an AI, Adam. What if it was trying to set you up and get you killed?" He asked him.

Adam looked at Hal before he answered. "Because it was the AI that tasked me to get rid of them. It even told me of a way to make it into the platform unseen before I had to confront them. It also told me where their weaknesses were. So, yeah, I understand that it's a lot of trust to put into an AI, Hal, but it helped me get rid of them. So, I owe it to the AI to put some trust in it, if only a little." He said seriously, before continuing. "After I took them both down, I made my way up to the top of the platform, and I met it face to face for the first time. And like I just told you, the AI has been there since the bases Diamond Dogs era, so, it knows everything that there is to know about the base. And after my conversation with the AI ended, it informed me that it would like to welcome Diamond Foxes with open arms. That, and I think that it just lonely. I mean, 50 years? I'm surprised that it hasn't gone insane and hostile like the Patriots." He said with a laugh.

The others laughed as well, before Meryl stood up. "Right. Well, then, if that's the end of both reports, then I would like to send a clean up crew to start sprucing up the base to make it more safe and stable. I'll also have to inform the Boss that we will be moving into our new base once it's all cleaned up. Adam, John, if you will both come with me, I would like to tell you both of your next missions. The rest of you are dismissed." She said motioning for Adam and John to follow her. But Adam had something else to say. "Actually, Meryl, I have something else to add, but this is just for Hal. Can you all leave me alone with him for a moment?" He asked.

Everyone looked at Adam, then Hal and then to Meryl, who nodded after a moment. "Alright, the rest of us will leave you both in here, but don't take too long, Adam. Your next mission is just as important as your first mission. Understand?" She said to Adam with a serious tone. Adam nodded and saluted before they all left the room, leaving Hal alone with him. Hal looked at him before walking up to him. "Alright, Adam, what's up?" He asked, but Adam hesitated for a moment. He didn't even how to tell Hal that the AI knows him somehow. "Adam?" Hal asked with worry. Adam swallowed whatever it was that was keeping him from talking, before he eventually started to speak. "Hal, I don't know how else to tell you this, but, the AI asked for me to bring you to it when we move to the base."

This confused Hal. He looked at Adam with a weird look before speaking. "The... AI asked for me? Why? Why would it do that?" He asked, making Adam shake his head. "I wish I knew, and I if I did, I would tell you. But, here's the weird and scary part... it asked for you by name. It knows your name, Hal." He admitted. This made Hal step back in shock. "It knows my name? How? Did you mention me?" He asked, worried that Adam may have unintentionally set him up for something, but Adam quickly shook his head and his hands. "No, no! I used your codename! It mentioned you first. It even knows your last name, "Emmerich". Did you... happen to know it in the past, and you may have forgotten?" He asked him.

But Hal stepped further away from Adam so he could think and try to remember. After a few minutes, he just shook his head. "No. I don't remember ever knowing an AI. Let alone an intelligent one. But... I guess it knows me from somewhere, I just don't know how." He admitted before looking back at Adam. "Are you sure it said my name, Adam, and not someone else's?" He asked him, making the man shake his head and shrug. "Hal, look, I don't know many people that go by the name of "Hal Emmerich", alright? And I'm 100% sure that it said your name, clear as day." Adam said seriously.

Hal looked away and began to think again, before Adam speaking again broke his concentration. "Hal, look, it asked me to bring you to it, but if I can't go with you back to the base, due to my next mission, you'll have to go to it yourself once the base has been cleaned up. If you're as curious as I am about how it knows you, then the only way for you to find out is by asking it yourself. Besides, it told me that it has something to tell you and you alone. And it would be up to you to tell the rest of us of what it told you when you're ready." He said to Hal. This made Hal pause, he looked at Adam curiously. "It has something to tell me? But... what is it?" He asked, but Adam shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, Hal. It didn't tell me. It wants to tell you itself when it meets you. So, once the base has been cleaned up, pay it a visit. I'm sure it will tell you everything you want to know then." He said before walking over to the door to walk out and leave Hal to his thoughts.

Adam walked out of the room and closed the door behind him, leaving Hal alone in the room. "Why would an AI want to speak with me? And how on earth does it know me?" He wondered as he sat back down in his seat to go through as many possibilities in his head, but he won't be able to figure it out on his own until he meets the AI himself. Only then will he get the answers he's looking for.

 _With Adam, John and Meryl..._

Adam caught up with Meryl and John as they were walking down a corridor. Meryl looked to the side and saw Adam walking right next to her. "You tell Hal what you needed to tell him?" She asked. Adam nodded. "Yes, ma'am. Now, I'm ready for my next mission briefing." He said as they continued to walk down the corridor.

"Good. First. John, I want you to go back to Tokyo, Japan to track down your father, and find out what his movements are. Where he's going, where he's been, etcetera. I want you to find out as much as you can. What you know, I want to know. And if at all possible..." She said before pausing mid-sentence to stop John in his tracks. John looked at Meryl in confusion before she continued. "If at all possible, try to give him some help. I don't know what you're father is up to or what he's gotten himself into, but try to help him however you can. He is still your father." She said to him, making John hesitate for a moment before he nodded. Meryl nodded as well and place her hand on his shoulder.

"I will leave as soon as possible, Commander." He said as he saluted Meryl before looking at Adam, nod his head and walk away to begin his mission. Meryl looked at Adam and clapped him on his back. "As for you, Adam, your next mission will take you to Germany." She said as she started walking again down the corridor. Adam looked at her in confusion. "Germany? What's happening in Germany?" He asked as they walked into the Intel room. A female soldier walked up to Meryl, handed her a clipboard before saluting her and walking away.

Meryl read the report on the clipboard before handing it to Adam. "Because one of Diamond Foxes best has gone missing. The last known contact was 24 hours ago, during your first mission. She was in Germany investigating possible suspects tied with Vulture. She was infiltrating a mansion far away from the city before we lost contact. We've been getting short transmission bursts, we're assuming, from her, but we've got nothing to go on." She informed him as he read the mission report.

"So, what we need you to do is go to Germany, head to the last known location of our soldier, the mansion, and make contact with her to help her escape. That is if you can find her." She said with worry. Adam looked up from the clipboard with a question on his mind. "And what is the soldiers codename?" He asked. Meryl sat down in one of the chairs and sighed before she answered. "The soldiers codename, in German, is Leise Phonix. When translated it means "Silent Phoenix." That is her codename." She answered as she looked up at Adam.

She then stood up to walk over to him. "When you you meet up with her, IF you meet up with her, tell her that Commander Silverburgh sent you and that you are a soldier of Diamond Foxes, but if you just tell her, she's not just going to take your word for it. So, use your patch to prove where your loyalties are. Alright?" She said to him. Adam nodded his head before long. "When do I leave, Commander?" He asked her.

She put her hands on his shoulders. "You will leave as soon as you've rested up. Once you've gotten some well deserved R and R, you will head to Germany. Echo-5 will fly you close enough to the mansion so it remains unseen. We don't want any possible enemy forces there shooting you both down. After that, you will have to get to the mansion yourself on foot." She informed him. Adam just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, well. That's the price to pay during stealth missions. Right?" He joked. Meryl smiled and nodded. "Indeed. Now, go rest up soldier. You're going to need it." She commanded as he saluted her. "Yes, ma'am." He said before turning around to walk out of the room.

Meryl turned around to try and listen to the last transmission that Silent Phoenix sent to the base. "Silent, where are you?" She whispered with a worried tone.

 _Elsewhere, far from the cities of Germany..._

A woman was lying down, unconscious, in a cell in an underground unknown area as footsteps could be heard walking towards it.

"Ah, the Silent Phoenix. It's an honor to finally put a face to the name, but it's a shame that we can't talk while you're unconscious. Hmm... well, it won't matter anyway. You won't live long enough to be able to talk to anyone anymore, let alone see your precious comrades at Diamond Foxes again." A feminine voice spoke to the woman in the cell before the feminine voice began to laugh.

The mysterious woman turned around to walk away but stopped and turned her head to look at the female soldier one more time. "Give my regards to your "Boss" when you get home, or to whoever comes here to save you. Although... I think I'm sure who will come here to save you. Let's just hope he's good enough to endure the horrors he will face when he gets here." She chuckled before finally walking away.

In the distance of the underground unknown location, horrific screams, moans and roars can be heard as the woman walked away from the cell with a disturbing smile on her face.


	12. Chapter12:TheLaserNet

**Disclaimer: I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami**

Adam had went to his resting quarters in the base to rest up for a few hours before he had to leave for his new mission in Germany. As he rested up, he had dreamed about the Fenrir's and about how his encounter with them could've gone way south if he didn't have the Diamond Dogs AI's help, and also if he didn't rely on his instincts.

He may have gotten lucky the first time around with them, but he was ill-equipped against an enemy like them. So, if there is a chance that he may run into them again during his mission in Germany, he'll have to bring some traps with him. And he knew just the people to talk to. Sunny and Carla.

He woke up feeling a little refreshed and walked out of his quarters to go find Carla and Sunny. He walked throughout the base looking for both women until he saw Carla near her work bench working on some kind of device. He walked up to her while looking at the incomplete device in her hands, but he couldn't quite tell what it was, so he just left it alone for the moment then gently tapped her shoulder. She slightly jumped and looked behind her to see Adam. "H-hey, Adam, what brings you here?" She asked him timidly as she set the device down on the work bench.

Adam chuckled. "Still a litte shy around me, huh, Carla?" He asked. She looked down with her hands behind her back and nodded. "I'm... I'm sorry." She said, almost sadly. Adam quickly reassured her. "No, no, it's ok. I was only teasing. I'm sorry." He apologized. Carla looked back up at him and smiled before nodding her head. "It's... It's ok, Adam. I'm still getting used to you being part of the team. I'll get used to it though, I promise. So, what is it that you need?" She asked him with a smile.

Adam smiled back and nodded. "Actually, I came here to look for you and Sunny, I need to talk to you both about something. Do you know where her work area is?" He asked her. Carla thought for a moment before answering. "Hmm... well, Sunny usually works in two places. The R and D area, which is where we are, and the security room. When she's not in here, she's usually in the security room to make sure that all of our security equipment is up to date or, at the very least, more advanced than normal. And since she's not in here..." She explained before Adam finished her sentence. "She's more than likely in the security room right now." He finished.

Carla nodded her head and smiled. "Yep, that's right." She said. Adam nodded his head as well. "Well, would you mind coming with me to go get her? I'm going to need both of your brilliant minds on what I have to ask." He asked her, waiting for an answer. Carla nodded again before answering. "Of course." She said as they both walked towards the direction of the security room.

 _Several minutes later, Security room..._

Adam and Carla walked into the security room to see the rooms personnel walking around to do check ups on the security, while Sunny was talking, almost yelling, at a man that looked to be the head of security. "How are Earth can you be this dull?!" She shouted at the man. "Miss Emmerich, I assure you, our security is up to date. There is no reason for a weekly security check up or upgrade." The man responded with his face turning slightly red.

Sunny puffed her cheeks and stomped her foot in anger. "I disagree, sir! The fact that you think that we don't need these check ups or upgrades is the exact reason why you're not fit to be head of security! You're impatient with your employees, you're hot tempered and you're arrogant to think that we don't need the upgrades to protect our soldiers! Diamond Foxes may be an incredible group of soldiers with great potential, but we still need to give them as much protection here when they're not out in the field!" She yelled loudly, her nose almost touching the mans now.

However, the man just scoffed and looked away from her. "They all know what they signed up for. They can protect themselves, with or without these useless little upgrades. If they die, then they die. It's as simple as that." He responded coldly. Sunny rears her hand back to slap the man, but stops when a man shouts, "ENOUGH!!!", making everyone stop what they're doing and stand frozen.

A large grisly looking bald man with a graying full goatee walks into the room from the side and walks towards Sunny and the head of security. "Miss Emmerich, stand aside, please." He says politely to Sunny. She steps aside while looking at the head of security, who was now shaking in his boots.

"Now, tovarishch, what did I just hear you say about our soldiers?" He asked the man with a dangerous tone. The head of security gulped loudly while trying to keep his composure. "B-Boss, I was merely saying that we don't need so many upgrades to protect our soldiers when they're fully capable on their own. I just-" He tried to say, but the large grisly man interrupted him. "Is that so? Because it seems to me that you were trying to stop Miss Emmerich from doing her routine checkups and upgrades, like I asked her to do since she's been here. You, on the other hand, have not been here as long as she has, so she is within her full rights to do these checkup as often as she sees fit." The Boss said with a threatening tone to the man, who was now shaking more visibly now and nodding his head quickly.

The Boss waited a moment before continuing. "Should you EVER interfere with her work or progress again, soldier, I will have you discharged from Diamond Foxes and escorted off the premises, and then you can find other work elsewhere. Is that understood?" He said with authority. The head of security nodded his head and whispered, "Y-Yes, sir...", but the Boss didn't quite hear him. "IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?!" He repeated loudly. The head of security jumped and nodded his head while answering, "YES, SIR!!!" He answered louder.

The Boss nodded his head. "Good. Now, take your business somewhere else where you're needed and leave Miss Emmerich to her work." He commanded, making the man salute before rushing out of the room. The Boss turned to Sunny but noticed Adam and Carla standing at the doorway. He motioned for them both to come over to him, making them walk down to the front of the room before stopping in front of him and saluting.

The Boss looked at Carla first and nodded his head to her. "Miss Anderson." He said before looking at Adam. He eyed Sunny before looking at Adam again. "Miss Emmerich, is this the new recruit I've been hearing about?" He asked her. Sunny nodded her head with a smile. "Yes, sir. This is Adam Eagles, also know as Phantom in the field." She answered as the Boss circled Adam, examining him.

"So, you're the one that survived against the Fenrirs, huh?" He asked. Adam, staring straight ahead, nodded before answering. "Yes, sir, but I just got lucky. I was ill-equipped against them, sir." He responded. The Boss walked and stood in front of Adam before he grunted. "Hmph, maybe your luck will rub off on some of my other soldiers. I see a lot of potential in you, boy. And I don't say that very often." He said to Adam.

Adam then took a risk and raised his amber yellow eyes to meet the mans greenish gray eyes. "Forgive my ignorance, sir, but who are you?" He asked. The large man looked taken aback for a moment. "Commander Silverburgh didn't tell you who I am yet, soldier?" He asked, making Adam shake his head. "Very well. I am the number one Commander of Diamond Foxes. You don't need to know my real name Mr. Eagles, but my codename is Thunder Rogue. However, around here, you will address me as Boss, Commander Rogue or just Rogue." He answered.

He then lifted up his left arm to look at his watch. "Well then, I must be going. Miss Emmerich, please return to your duties. Same goes for the both of you as well." He said to Sunny, Carla and Adam before he walked away. Everyone in the room saluted as he walked out of the room before they all returned to what they were previously doing. Carla and Adam let out a long sigh as Sunny turned to them both. "Not that I don't appreciate seeing you two, but what is it you need before I return to do the security check ups?" She asked. Adam took a step forward. "I actually need to talk to you and Carla about some traps that I can use for my next mission. I got lucky last time with the Fenrirs, but luck isn't going to cut it a second time. I need some traps just in case I run into them again." He answered.

Sunny nodded in understanding and began to think. She then snapped her fingers. "Alright, give me about... 10 or 15 minutes to do this checkup and I'll be right with you, Adam. Ok?" She asked. Adam nodded as Sunny walked away to talk with one of the security personnel. Carla looked at Adam. "So, what do we do in the meantime?" She asked him, but Adam just shrugged. "I don't know. We'll just wait, I guess." He answered as he began walking to the doorway he walked in from.

 _15 minutes later..._

Adam and Carla waited and waited for Sunny to come out of the security room when the doors opened and she walked out with a long sigh and a big smile on her face. "Now, that that's done, let's see if Carla and I can set you up with some traps, Adam. This way please." She said sweetly as she walked past them. Adam looked at Carla with a look of confusion as they walked behind Sunny. "Is she always like this when she gets her work done?" He asked her. Carla just smiled and nodded. "Yep. She loves to work on anything and everything that's related to technology. And if she feels that anything can be better, then she makes it happen." She answered.

Adam thought for a moment. "What about a soldier? What if she feels that a soldier can be better?" He asked her, but Sunny turned around with an even bigger smile before she answered. "If I feel that a soldier can be better, then I'll just be the best friend I possibly can be and guide them as best as possibly can until they feel that they can stand on they're own two feet. Which is exactly what I'm doing for you, Adam." Her answer confused Adam for a moment. He was about to ask her what she meant but she spoke before he did. "And before you ask, I'm doing it because I want to. Our group knows that you have potential to be a great soldier, Adam. Maybe even greater than Snake himself, but one soldier can only go so far on their own. Which is why Hal, Meryl, John and Carla and I will be there right next to you every step of the way. No matter what." She explained with her radiant smile making Carla nod in agreement.

This made Adam smile and nod himself as they made their way back to the R and D area. The three of them walked over to a lone work bench that had all kinds of tech and equipment behind it. Sunny and Carla walked behind it while Adam stood in front of it. "Alright, Adam, what exactly are you looking for?" Sunny asked. Adam shrugged before answering. "I'm not looking for anything specific, but I am looking for some traps that could either, slow down my enemies, dispose of them or keep them in one place long enough to make an escape." He explained to them. Sunny looked puzzled for a moment and began to think before looking over at Carla, who was looking a bit giddy for some reason.

"Carla, is there something you want to share with us?" She asked. Carla nodded her head wildly before looking at Adam. "Wait here a moment." She said before taking off to her own work bench. Adam and Sunny then heard a loud ruckus coming from Carla's work bench. They look over to see metal parts flying all over the place and Carla digging deep into her huge pile of equipment. Adam blinked and shook his head. "She may be a genius, but she really needs to get that space organized. I'm honestly surprised she find anything in there." He comments making Sunny giggle. "Be easy on her, Adam. She's just full of ideas. A lot of them have been mass produced and have helped the soldiers out in the field. However, the equipment she deems "special", she reserves for Meryl, John and now you. And if she is digging THAT deep into that huge pile..." she pauses to see Carla now waist deep into the equipment pile.

Sunny then shakes her head and giggles again before continuing. "...then she must have something really special in mind for you to use. So, just be patient with her, she's always pulls through for us. Even though she's not a fighter or a soldier, she'll do or make anything that will help us come back home." She says with a smile. Adam looks at Sunny then to Carla, who was almost all the way inside the pile, before chuckling and nodding his head.

Carla then finally pulled herself out of the pile and ran back to Adam and Sunny with oil smudges all over her body. She sets down a big square block with an opening in the front and back on the work bench. Adam looks at the block before looking at Sunny then Carla. "Alright, Carla, what am I looking at?" He asks. Carla then points at the big square block before answering. "This, Adam, is going to be a little demonstration of the trap that I think would be perfect for you to use against the Fenrir Unit, or any other enemies that you will most definitely encounter on your missions." She says before placing a small metal device in the middle of the square block.

She then takes out a miniature remote control out of her pocket and looks at both of them with a huge smile before pressing the button. The metal device inside the square block makes a silent noise for just a moment before it suddenly stops just as it began, but Adam and Sunny didn't see any changes inside the square block. "Uh, Carla? Would you care to explain, please?" Sunny asked politely. Carla gently moved Sunny to the side and looked at Adam from the other side of the square block and grinned. She then bends down under the work bench and pulls out a thin piece of cloth that looks like silk.

She balls it up as best as she can and throws it at Adam through the square block, but it doesn't make it very far as it is sliced into tiny pieces. The cloth pieces get smaller and smaller until there is nothing but a small pile of what looks like dust, but is really a pile of a sliced up thin piece of cloth. Witnessing this, Adam's eyes widen before he looks at Carla. "What on Earth-" he begins, but Carla points back inside the square block. "Look back inside, but lean to your left or right." She answers. Adam does as he's told and leans to the left and right while he's looking inside the square block, and what he sees amazes him.

He sees thin silver lines all inside of the square block, but they're not wires, so he came to a conclusion and looks back up at Carla. "Infrared sensors?" He asks, thinking he's right, but Carla shakes her head with a smile. "Nope, but you're close. It's a laser grid that's been modified into a trap. I got inspiration from the infrared sensors, yes, but instead of covering two sides of a corridor or a hallway, it covers the sides as well as the top and bottom." She explained proudly. Adam and Sunny look inside the block again in amazement before Sunny turns around with a smile and hugs Carla. "Carla, you never cease to amaze! This is incredible!" She praises Carla while hugging her tight. Carla giggles and Sunny back while Adam continues to look at the trap with amazement.

He smiles and shakes his head before looking at Carla and Sunny. "Carla, this is amazing. How did you manage to create this?" He asks her. Carla stops hugging Sunny and presses the button on the mini remote again to deactivate the trap. She takes the metal device out of the square block and hands both it and the remote to Adam. "Believe me, it wasn't easy. I've had a lot of trials and errors while making this damn thing. I've even got the scars to prove it, but some of those scars are in places that you don't want to know." She answered looking down with a with a blush. Adam looked at Sunny and they both smiled at each other before nodding.

"Well, the fact of the matter is, you made it and it works. Now, is there anything else you got for me?" He asks her as he puts both devices into his survival pack. She looks up at him and smiles before walking back behind the work bench with Sunny. "Nope! That's the only trap you'll need for now. That laser net is the perfect indoor trap, so you won't need anything else right now. At least until you are in an open field. Which by then you'll have access to Claymore's, C4 and all that other good stuff. But until then, the Laser Net is the only trap you'll need right now for indoor areas." She explains.

Sunny just smiles and nods before Adam nods as well before he turns around. "Alright. Well then, I guess I better get the rest of my gear prepped for my next mission. I guess I'll see you both again when I get back." He says before turning around and walking away.

Sunny then looks at Carla and nudges her making her look at her. "What?" She asks. Sunny just smiles. "Laser Net, Carla?" She asks, making Carla lose her smile. "Yeah? It's not a stupid name, is it?" She asks, thinking Sunny didn't like the name. But Sunny reassures her. "No, no. I think it's an appropriate name for it. It's actually pretty cool to be honest." She answered, making Carla smile again before they watched Adam continue to walk away.

 _Diamond Foxes Base, Intel Room..._

Meryl, who was still in the Intel room trying to get a lead on the missing soldier, Silent Phoenix, was beginning to get frustrated. "Damn it! If I can't get more info to give to Adam before he leaves, I might as well be sending him on a suicide mission!" She whispers loudly. "What seems to be the problem, Commander Silverburgh?" A voice asks from behind her, making her turn around to see the Diamond Foxes number one commander, Commander Thunder Rogue.

"Boss!" She exclaims before saluting him. "At ease." He says before walking up beside her to look at the Intel screen that was in the front of the room. "Still no sign of Silent?" He asks. Meryl shakes her head. "No, sir. Nothing." She says with disappointment evident in her voice as she sits down in a chair and starts to rub the temples on her head. Rogue looks at her then pats her shoulder. "Not to worry. Silent is as tough as they come. And your new recruit, Phantom, he's still green, but he's a tough one too. If he's as good as you say he is, then he'll find her and bring her back." He reassures her.

Meryl looks up at Rogue with worry on her face. "But, sir-" she began but her boss cuts her off. "Meryl, did you ever lose faith in Snake?" He asks her. Meryl looked insulted for a moment before she answered. "No, of course not. Absolutely not. David made the impossible possible. Why would I ever-" she was about to ask, but Rogue cuts her off again.

"Then have faith in Adam, Meryl. If he is to be the new Snake, then have faith in him like you did David." He said looking at her seriously before looking back at the Intel screen. Meryl wanted to say something more, but couldn't. She realized that Rogue was right.

If Adam is to replace David and become the new Snake, then she will have to have as much faith in him like she did David, if not more. But with these new enemies they'll be facing, Adam will have to do what David did.

Make the impossible... possible.


	13. Chapter13:DeadlyReunion

**Disclaimer: I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.**

Adam returned to his quarters to get the rest of his gear prepped and changed clothes. He was now wearing a navy blue and black form fitting shirt, black military pants as well as his black combat boots. Feeling he was prepared, he grabbed his survival pack, along with his AM MRS-4 and 1911 Colt before he walked out the door. As he walked down the corridor leading to the helipad, he sighed. "God, I seriously hope that I don't run into the Fenrir Combat Unit again so soon." He thought before he reached into his survival pack and pulled out the Laser Net to take another look at it. "I mean, I have faith in Carla's trap, but if I run into those things again for a second time in a row, then I have the worst luck ever." He thought again as he reached the outside of the base.

He walked towards Echo-5 and hopped inside before shutting the sliding door. Through the window he could see Carla, Sunny and Hal waving at him smiling and giving him a thumbs up. He smiled back and waved as Echo-5 lifed up into the air and flew towards his next destination.

Germany.

 _With Cyber Fox: Tokyo, Japan..._

Fox had returned to Japan and also returned to the scene of the crime where his good friend, Dr. Madnar, was murdered by his own father. It still bothered Fox and he couldn't understand. Why would his father, a man he once considered a super hero as kid, kill the one person that saved his life? Twice in fact.

He just couldn't understand it.

He walked down the ally, which was now as empty as any ally in the world, and kneeled down near where the doctors body once lied, Fox could only imagine the fear the old man felt when it was a friend that attacked and killed him. "Why? Why dad? Why would you kill the old man like this?" He thought to himself with his eyes closed before he opened them and inhaled deeply to take a breath.

As he scanned the ally way to look for anything that the Tokyo police may have missed, he noticed something odd near the dumpster that was sitting further down the ally. Curious, he double tapped his Diamond Fox patch to activate his cybernetic armor, which covered him from head to toe. At first glance, you would be thinking that Frank Jaeger, who died in Shadow Moses, was still alive. Foxes cybernetic armor was a replica of Frank's cyborg body, and Dr. Madnar helped him design it with the nanotechnology that was available to them at the time.

Now in his cybernetic suit, Fox walked over to the dumpster and lifted it up to see that there was a small silver flash drive sitting beneath it. He bent down and picked it up to examine it for a moment before putting it in one of his utility pouches on his waist, but before he could...

 **BANG!**

A gunshot was heard and the bullet hit Fox in the shoulder and knocked him down on his back, but it didn't injure him. However, whatever gun was used to shoot him, it was powerful enough to send Fox back a couple of feet away from the dumpster as well as making him drop the flash drive from his grasp.

Shaking his head and regaining his composure, Fox looked back at the spot where he dropped the flash drive but saw that someone new wearing a black hooded trench coat, likely the person that shot him, was now holding the flash drive in their hand before turning their head, that was hidden behind a visor, to look at him for a moment before putting the flash drive in a pocket before turning around to jump away and run. But before the person ran off, Fox noticed long flowing platinum blonde hair. "No way. It can't be him... can it?" He asked himself before quickly getting back up to chase this person.

It wasn't long until Fox could see this adversary running through the streets of Tokyo, and he wasn't far behind him. The person then ran into the ongoing traffic of Tokyo and dodged through the cars before jumping high up into the air then landing on the side of a building then began to run up it. "You're not getting away that easy." Fox thought as he dodged through the same traffic as well as the civilians that just stood and watched in amazement but also fear. He jumped up high into the air and landed on the side of the same building the adversary had and proceeded to chase after him again.

The person was almost at the top of the building before Fox decided to jump up again and crashed into this person, grabbing him. They both landed on top of the building and rolled around but Fox was kicked off before slamming into the side of a large metal power box. He groaned and stood back up to look at this person again, who was staring at him before he turned back around to run again. "I know who you are!" Fox shouted, making the person stop. "You're Raiden! You were a hero during the Guns of the Patriots Incident twenty years ago!" He continued, but the person just stood there.

"I looked up to you! You were my hero before you disappeared in 2018! Dr. Madnar was your friend and he was my friend! How could you kill him?! He saved your life twice!" He continued shouting, but once more, the person in black did not say one word. They just stood there, silent, and it was beginning to frustrate Fox. He wanted answers from this person, who may be his father, but he wasn't getting any. "Goddamn you! Say something, damn it! You're my father! WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN THESE 16 YEARS?!" He demanded, but this time, the person turned around this time as the visor opened up revealing Raiden.

Fox hesitated for a moment. His dad looked just as he did before he disappeared 16 years ago. He looked like a million bucks in fact. Fox's helmet opened up to reveal that he was smiling with tears in his eyes. "Dad?" He whispered as he slowly walked towards Raiden, wanting to hug him, but as he got close enough to reach out to him, Raiden's eyes turned bright red then reared his fist back to deliver a punch, and Fox's suit instinctively reacted by closing the helmet before the punch landed.

Fox was slammed into the power box again and shook his head before looking back at Raiden, whose eyes were glowing bright in the night. **"My name isn't Raiden, kid. It's Jack, Jack the Ripper. And I have no children. Now, get the hell out of my way before I cut you down like I did that frail old man. I have a job to do, and I intend to get it done."** Raiden spoke before he turned around to run off again, but he felt his head jerk to the side.

He looked back at Fox, who had thrown a HF dagger at him to get his attention. "You. Aren't. Going. Anywhere. I have a job to do too, and I intend to get it done." He said dangerously while looking at his father, who may have gone insane. Raiden just looked at Fox before he looked down at the ground and began to chuckle. **"Honestly, kid, I was hoping you'd say that."** He said as he quickly took off his trench coat to reveal a new cyborg body. Fox frowned from inside his helmet. "It's like his white cyborg body from 20 years ago, but it's black. And on his left shoulder he's got..." Fox thought as he paused to look at Raiden's left shoulder to see what looks like a patch with a vulture skull.

Fox sighed. "He's with Gomez, but what the hell happened to him? And why doesn't he remember who I am?" He thought as he looked at Raiden who looked back at him with a crazed smile. **"Come on, kid. What are you waiting for?"** He asked with a chuckle. Fox just frowned again. "I'll worry about that later. Right now I need to get that flash drive back. If Gomez wants it, then it must be important." He thought as he grasped the scabbard of the HF blade on his hip and pulled it out. Raiden's crazed smile just grew wider before he reached down for the Murasama HF blade on his hip and pulled it out as well.

With both swords drawn, Fox waited and Raiden chuckled again. **"Alright, kid. Let's dance!"** He shouted as his visor closed and rushed towards Fox and began to attack him.

Fox dodged and parried Raiden's sword strikes, but had to remember that with his father's unique cyborg body, he had to be vigilant. Fox had parried another of Raiden's strikes but had to quickly jump away from him as Raiden had dropped his HF blade after the previous attack and caught it with his foot to slash at his legs. Raiden just chuckled as he slowly walked towards Fox while twirling his HF blade. **"Come on, kid, don't start a fight with me only to act like a coward. At least make it interesting for me and act like you're trying to kill me. Because I'm starting to get bored."** He told him with a low tone.

Fox just looked at him. "I'm not trying to kill you. I don't even want to fight you, but you're giving me no choice." He admitted making Raiden chuckle again. **"Why? Because I'm your daddy? I told you already, kid, I don't have any kids. Jack the Ripper doesn't have children... he kills them."** He replied. Fox just frowned and shook his head. "I don't know what's wrong with him, but I don't have time to worry about it right now. I have to get him away from that coat and grab the flash drive." He thought as he prepared to start fighting again.

He rushed forward towards Raiden to strike, but not a lethal one, and was blocked by him as he started laughing. **"That's better, kid! Show me what you got!"** He shouted as they both delivered quick strikes at each other, but dodged and parried each one. They both moved quickly and jumped around on the rooftop delivering strike after strike, Raiden with wild and lethal ones and Fox with defensive and disciplined strikes.

After a while Raiden began to notice that Fox wasn't fighting as seriously as he should be, and was wondering what he was up to, but it was too late. Fox, during the fight, had taken out a Stun grenade and pulled out the pin before he dropped it. It exploded and temporarily blinded Raiden. He shouted and screamed while wildly, and blindly, swinging his blade around trying to hit Fox. **"ARGH!!! You bastard, that was cheap trick! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"** He shouted while still swinging his blade around trying to hit Fox.

Fox, while his father was stunned for the moment, ran to the discarded trench coat and dug into its pockets to search for the flash drive. The moment he finally found it and put it in his utility pouch is also when Raiden regained his sight. Raiden looked around before looking dead at Fox and charged towards him in a rage. **"THERE YOU ARE YOU COWARD!!! I'M DONE PLAYING GAMES!!! GET READY TO DIE!!!"** He shouted as he thrust his blade towards Fox's chest to kill him, but Fox parried the strike with his own blade and delivered a crushing punch that cracked and broke Raiden's visor, sending him backwards and landing near the edge of the building.

Raiden sat up and looked at Fox with his right red eye showing through the now broken visor. His eye glowed intensely as he glared at Fox. "I don't know what's happened to you, but I will find a way to help you." He said before turning to jump off the building. Raiden stood up and ran to the other side of the building to look for Fox, only to find that he has now disappeared.

Raiden looked up and glared at the night sky with his exposed eye burning red with rage. **"I don't know who you are, kid, and quite frankly I don't give a damn. The next time I see you, you're fucking dead. No one, NO ONE, makes a fool out of Jack the Ripper and lives to tell about it. NO ONE!!!"** He shouts before turning around to pick up his trench coat and disappearing as well with a blinding flash of lightning.


	14. Chapter14:AnEmptyMansion?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.**

Adam waited patiently as he rode inside Echo-5 to Germany. Hours had past since he left the Diamond Foxes base and he was secretly hoping that he doesn't encounter the Fenrir's again so soon, especially after his first encounter with them on the former Diamond Dogs Motherbase at the Seychelles.

The day was turning into night as Adam felt the helicopter begin to slow. "We must be getting close." He thought before he got up off his seat and opened the choppers side door. He sat down and strapped himself inside the chopper to keep himself from falling out as he watched stars in the night sky pass by. "Lynn and the others would've killed to see this kind of view. Literally." He thought with a smile and a chuckle before he felt the helicopter slow itself again and descend slowly before it stopped and started to hover.

Adam unstrapped himself and hopped out before landing on the ground. "Be careful out there, Phantom." Echo-5 said before ascending up again into the sky before flying away. Adam watched as it flew away for a moment before pulling out his iDroid to see how far the mansion was from his current position. And indeed, it was far from the city of Germany and it was going to be a long walk or jog to get there. Adam sighed. "Alright, then. Here we go." He says before placing a marker on the iDroid to let him know how close or far he was from the mansion.

He put the iDroid away and began his long journey to the mansion.

 _45 minutes later..._

 _"You have arrived at your destination."_ The iDroid said to Phantom in his earpiece as he reached the hill that overlooked the mansion, but was a good distance away from it so he could take a look around with his Int-Scope. He got down on his belly and scanned the area for any enemy sentries that may be patrolling the mansion, but oddly enough... there weren't any.

Phantom lowered the scope with a look of confusion before he looked again, and sure enough, there still weren't any enemies to be seen. "This doesn't feel right." He whispered before pressing his finger against his earpiece. "Diamond Foxes Base, the is Phantom, do you read me?" He said.

It was only a moment before someone responded. "This is Diamond Foxes Base, we read you, Phantom. What's up?" The person asked. "I need an external and internal thermal scan of a mansion in Germany. I've looked twice with my scope, but I see no enemy sentries anywhere. It looks safe enough, but I don't want to take any chances. Which is why I want a thermal scan of the mansion to see if there is anything, or anyone, I may have missed." Phantom reported.

"Copy that, Phantom. We'll run a thermal scan and report back to in you in a few minutes. Over and out." The person replied then Phantom just waited in silence as he watched the mansion for any sign of movement or activity.

 _15 minutes later..._

"Phantom, this is Commander Silverburgh, do you copy?" Meryl called Phantom over the radio. Phantom answered. "I read you, Commander. What does the thermal scan say?" He asked. "I've sent you the scan to your iDroid. Take a look at it, but it's strange." Meryl responded. Phantom pulled out his iDroid and pressed one of the buttons to bring up a holographic screen. The scan showed the inside and outside of the entire mansion, and Meryl was right... it was strange. Other than one thermal figure that was sitting somewhere inside the mansion, there were no other figures inside or outside the mansion.

It was completely abandoned.

Phantom gained a looked of confusion again. "What the hell?" He thought before speaking to Meryl again. "Commander, are you sure this information is accurate?" He asked. "Yes, we're 100% sure the scans are accurate, Phantom. We ran multiple scans and checked the systems to make sure that it was up to date, but Sunflower assures us that the systems are 100% functional and operational." Meryl answered as Phantom looked back up at the mansion and just like when he reached the hilltop, all the lights outside the mansion were operational. Whether they were operational inside the mansion remained to be seen.

Phantom let out a deep sigh, he didn't know where to go from here. The way looked safe, but this could all be a trap, then again, there is one thermal figure inside the mansion and it is more than likely his rescue target, Silent Phoenix. He could not and would not leave her behind. Traps be damned.

Meryl, worried by Phantom's silence, responded. "Phantom, I know what you're thinking, but I can't make this decision for you. I'd rather not leave a soldier behind, but this is your mission. You can drop this if you want, this doesn't feel right." She says to him, but Phantom just shakes his head and glares at the mansion. "No, Commander, I'm not leaving a soldier here alone. I'm going in. Phantom out." He says before he cuts off radio contact then makes his way to the mansion.

Little does he know that after he made his decision, Meryl just smiled.

Phantom quickly and quietly made his way to the mansion with his rifle ready in case any enemies decide to suddenly pop up out of no where.

With no resistance from any enemy forces so far, he makes his way to the front entrance of the mansion. He stands near the front entrance with his rifle ready as he slowly reaches for the doorknob. Quickly turning the doorknob and snatching the door open, Phantom burst into the main hall of the mansion...

And just like outside, all the lights were functioning and there were no enemy forces inside the mansion. At least for the moment. Phantom slowly shakes his head as he eases his rifle down. "I don't like this at all. This seems far too easy, even for a rescue mission." He thought as he walked and looked around the main hall. After a moment he pulls out his iDroid and brings up the holographic map of the mansion. "Ok, Silent Phoenix is in the lower levels of the mansion, but how do I get to her?" He asks himself as he examined the map.

 ** _THUD!!!_**

Phantom suddenly hears a loud thud coming from the East Wing, he quickly readies his rifle and makes his way to where he heard the sound. He opens the door and walks into what looks like a dining room and inside is a long dinner table. At the end of the table one of the chairs looks to have been moved to the side. He slowly moves to the side to keep an eye on anything suspicious, but what he saw next, he wasn't expecting.

A body. Lying on the floor next to the table and the chair.

"An unconscious enemy?" Phantom wondered as he slowly walked over to the body. As he got closer to the body, he began to see multiple lacerations all over. The clothes were torn up and there were bloody spots everywhere on the body, even the floor. Phantom was now beginning to feel uneasy.

Was this the only body in the mansion?

If not, then where is everyone else?

Questions raced in Phantom's mind as he crouched down near the body and carefully flipped it over on it's back. What Phantom saw next made him back away in shock.

The body was male, but you couldn't really tell because the persons face was mangled beyond possible repair if they were still alive. The persons jaw was hanging off on one side and it was barely hanging on a slab of meat. The skin was ice cold and the persons eyes, now glazed, were wide with terror. Phantom noticed a patch on the left of the deceased male. It was a patch with the skull of a vulture. "They were with Vulture, but what happened to him?" Phantom thought as he looked at the deceased mangled body before he noticed that the body was holding something in their right hand.

Whatever it was they were clutching it tight. Phantom crouched down again and slowly pulled out the thing that the body was holding for dear life. After a moment Phantom finally managed to pull out the thing that the body was holding.

It was a folded piece of paper.

Phantom unfolded it and there was a message written on it in big bold letters with bloody fingerprints all over it.

 ** _"GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN! IT'S NOT SAFE HERE! THEY'RE OUT OF CONTROL!"_**

The message read. Phantom narrowed his eyes and look down at the body again, this time he noticed an ID card sticking out of the shirts front pocket. He plced the paper on the table and took the card out of the pocket. It's a level 6 ID card. Wherever Phantom would be going, this would take him straight there.

"Sorry, pal, but you won't be needing this anymore." Phantom said before he stood back up and made his way back into the entrance hall leaving the body behind.

"Ok, so, this is a level 6 ID card, but where am I going to use it?" He wondered.

 ** _CLANG!!!_**

Phantom then heard a metallic clang behind him as he stood in the entrance hall. He looked around quickly with his rifle ready before he noticed that the tall clock that was near the staircase had moved to the side to reveal an elevator. "This place is full of surprises." Phantom wondered as he slowly entered the elevator then a voice spoke after a moment. _"Authorization, please."_

Phantom placed the ID card inside the elevator slot and waited as he heard a quiet hum. He got the card back before long. _"Confirmed. Welcome, Cameron Drake."_ The voice said as the elevator door closed and Phantom could feel himself being taken down to the lower levels of the mansion.

"Well, here we go. Hang on, Silent, help is on the way." Phantom thought to himself.

But nothing could have prepared him for the horrors that are about to come next.

 **Quick AN- Holy shit! 5 months without an update, I didn't think so much time had passed. I want to apologize to everyone that has been waiting for an update to this story. I normally don't leave these kinds of notes at the end of a chapter, but I owe you all an apology. I would go into detail about why I took so long, but I don't want to make it sound like an excuse. So, I just want to say I'm sorry and that I hope that I still have my readers for MG: Resurrection. How ever little there are, but it's ok. This story is still growing and I intend to see it through. Once again, I apologize to you all for the super slow update and I will try to update more soon, but only after I feel that the chapter is good to go. I'll see you all again in the next chapter and keep reading! Have a good one guys! Later!**

 **-GameTitan**


	15. Chapter15:LaboratoryHorror

**Disclaimer: I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.**

 _-Diamond Foxes Texas Base-_

John rushed into the base with the silver flashdrive in hand to report his finding to Meryl, Rogue and the others. Even while John is wearing his cybernetic cyborg suit, which gives him enhanced strength and stamina, he felt winded and out of breath. Because when he successfully retrieved the flash drive from his now demented and psychotic father, he called for an extraction chopper out of Japan, but he did not wait in one particular location since he did not want to risk his father following or chasing him.

Once he called for an extraction he told the pilot that he would not be waiting at one spot. The pilot was to track John's movements and be at the extraction point at the right moment. Thankfully, he was. Because John made a mad dash and a dangerous jump from the edge of the country of Japan to the inside of the chopper. When John was safely inside the chopper, he checked himself to make sure he still had the flash drive that held important information that could help the fight against Gomez and the Vultures.

Thankfully, he still had it and he let out a huge sigh of relief as he headed back to the base. Which brings John to his present status of running through the base looking for Meryl, but as he was looking for her, he noticed that Diamond Foxes personnel are loading up every single piece of equipment into cargo trucks or large containers.

Curiosity was getting the better of him, so he walked up to one of the female soldiers and gently tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to see who tapped her then saluted when she saw it was John. "Ma'am, why is the equipment being loaded up?" He asked her, trying to catch his breath. She turned her head for a moment before looking back at him to answer. "Commander Silverburgh gave the order to load up the equipment to move to our new base in the Seychelles. We were given new device's by the bases AI to clean up the bases rust and make it sturdy and strong again." She answered.

John gained a look of confusion, but also worry. "The AI? Is the Commander sure that she can trust it?" He asked. The female soldier nodded. "Yes, she's sure. The new recruit, Adam, seems to trust it. That and the AI hasn't given us any reason not to trust it, so, I honestly don't see a problem." She answered.

John thought for a moment then nodded before he turned around to continue looking for Meryl. It wasn't long before he bumped into Carla. Not the person he was looking for, but she's part of their small group, so he'll take it.

"Whoa. John, where are you going in such a rush?" Carla asked him. John to a another moment to catch his breath before he answered. "We have to find Meryl. I completed my mission in Japan, but not without some trouble." He said before continuing. "I found this flash drive where Dr. Madnar was killed, but I wasn't the only one looking for it." He told her while holding the flash drive in his hand.

Carla looked at it before looking at him. "What's on it? Do you know?" She asked him, but John shook his head. "No. That's why I have to find Meryl and the others. We have to find out what's on it before we make any type of move against Gomez and the Vultures." He said to her. Carla nodded her before turning around to lead him to Meryl.

 _With Phantom at the mansion in Germany..._

Phantom patiently rode the elevator down to the mansions lower levels before it suddenly stopped with a gentle jerk. Phantom readied his primary weapon and waited for the elevator door to open.

When it did, he was welcomed to a disturbing and gruesome sight.

The lights were still functioning, but it didn't change the fact that the floor, the walls and the ceiling had blood splattered all over the place. There were a few scientists lying on the floor with their bodies torn apart or in half. There was one scientist that had her hand reaching out for the button to call the elevator, but whatever got to her ripped open her back and yanked out her spine. The look on her face just screamed that she died painfully.

Phantom tried to keep himself from vomiting, but it didn't help the fact that he felt sick to his stomach. Before he walked anywhere else, he closed his eyes and took in a few deep breaths to calm himself, but the smell wasn't exactly helping. It smelled like a slaughterhouse.

He shook his head and quietly coughed before looking back at the scene before him. "If this doesn't give you Resident Evil vibes, I don't know what will." He thought before checking the magazine for his primary weapon then his secondary. When he saw that they were both good on ammo, he started to walk, but each step he took was a little slippery.

After walking through the first door of the lower levels he shook his head when he was greeted to another gruesome sight. This one looked worse than the last. "Jesus. What could've done this and is it even still down here?" He thought to himself as he continued to walk.

After walking for several minutes and finding a stairway that lead further down into this laboratory, the lights flickered before they suddenly went out, leaving Phantom in the dark.

"Shit." He thought before he turned on the flashlight that was strapped to his belt before putting on his Night Vision Goggles. He then pulled out his iDroid to look at the map of the lab before he made another move. "Ok, Silent Phoenix is another couple floors down below me. I better get moving. Whatever's down here I do NOT want to encounter it. I'm not in the mood to fight any science lab monsters today. I'd take the Fenrir Combat Unit for all I care." He thought as he put the iDroid away and continued walking.

 _Minutes later..._

After walking down a couple of floors to where Silent Phoenix is supposedly being held, Phantom walked through another door...

 ** _RAWRRR!!!_**

Phantom crouched down with his primary at the ready and remained silent after he heard the roars coming from all directions. He looked in all directions to see and hear if anything was coming towards him. Thankfully, nothing tried to charge him... yet. He quietly stood back up and pulled his iDroid back out to take a glance at it. He saw that he wasn't too far from Silent Phoenix's location. "Ok, just a little farther now. Then I can grab Phonix, call for an extraction and get the hell out of here. I'm not in the mood to be in a horror movie setting tonight." He thought as he put the iDroid away and continued walking in the direction he was supposed to go.

Little did he know, in the distance, in the corners of the lab, there were figures hiding in the dark. All were gritting and grinding their teeth before one of them whispered in a raspy voice. **_"Ad... A... Adam..."_** The creature spoke as Phantom slowly and quietly walked away. The creatures then back away further into the dark to continue watching their prey.

 _10 minutes later..._

Phantom walked into a room that was leading to the area where Silent Phoenix was being held, but something was strange. This room was the only area in the entire laboratory that had guards. The rest of the lab that Phantom had walked through had staff and personnel that were scientists, but this small particular area of the lab had enemy guards. And it looked like they were trying to cover the entrance to Phoenix's holding cell. Phantom them looked to his left and noticed one enemy sentry with a blinking red light on him.

Phantom narrowed his eyes. "Was this guy recording?" He wondered as he walked over to the corpse and lifted up the bodies left wrist then pressed a button on, what looked like, a watch to stop the recording. He then pressed another button to eject a disk that popped out of the soldiers utility belt. He picked up the disk and put it inside his own utility belt to look at later. "This can wait. I have to get moving." He thought as he walked over to the door leading to Silent Phoenix.

He quietly and slowly turned the doorknob before opening then silently walked in.

He saw multiple holding cells when he walked in, and the majority of them looked empty, but he could just barely hear someone breathing slowly in the distance. Phantom began his search for Phoenix as he slowly walked and thoroughly checked the cells. Six of the holding cells he passed were all empty until he reached the 7th holding cell.

He saw someone with long black hair lying down on the floor with their hands tied behind their back. And their breathing was slow and quiet. He looked at the way he came in from to make sure no one, or nothing, had followed him. When he was sure nothing was there, he took a step near the cell and tapped one of the cell bars with the barrel of his primary weapon. "Phoenix? Silent Phoenix, can you hear me?" He whispered, but he got no answer.

He crouched down and took out his lock pick tools so he could pick the lock and get her out, but stopped.

To his left, he could hear heavy but quiet breathing along with a few snarls. He turned his head and looked to his left to see multiple figures with glowing pale green eyes standing in the doorway he came in from. "Damn..." he thought as he slowly stood up and back away from the cell slowly. Some of the figures hissed and made to move into the room, but stopped when the small petite figure in the front put its hand up to stop them.

Phantom stared at them with his amber yellow eyes and they with their pale green eyes. "Damn it, are they Skulls? What the hell are they doing attacking their own men?" He wondered as the one Skull in the front took a step forward into what little light that was in the room.

Seeing the features of the Skull in the front made Phantom widen his eyes in shock and despair. "Oh, my god..." he whispered with sorrow.

 _With John..._

"Sunny, I don't mean to rush you, but what's taking so long?" John asked as Sunny was typing in codes to look at what is in the flash drive he recovered. Sunny sighed while she continued to type. "This flash drive has so much security and firewalls on it it's ridiculous. Whatever Dr. Madnar found, he obviously didn't want to hack into it so easy. He was going to make them work for it, just like I'm doing now. So just be a little more patient would you, John?" She said to him as he paced back and forth nervously.

Meryl looked at him and stopped him in his tracks making him look at her. "John? Take a deep breath, ok? Breathe in then out." She instructed him as he did so.

He did it a few more times until he stopped, then looked at her. She smiled. "Better?" She asked. He nodded. "Yeah, much better." He answered.

"Got something! But it's not much right now." Sunny yelled with excitement as she looked at the screen. What she found made her eyes widen and cover her mouth in shock. She turned and looked at Meryl. "Meryl? You need to look at this." She said trembling. Meryl and John walked over as Sunny got up and walked away from the screen making Carla walk over to comfort her.

Meryl and John's eyes were next to widen in shock. The information they were now looking at made them sick and want to vomit. "Meryl, where the hell is Adam?" John asked urgently making Meryl look at him with fear.

"Germany."

 _With Phantom..._

 **"Ad... Adaaam..."** The female Skull hissed as it slowly walked towards him.

His body trembled as tears built up in his eyes. One of the Skulls standing before him was...

"Lynn...?"


	16. Chapter16:NoHope?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.**

Phantom backed away as Lynn and the other Skulls slowly walked towards him. "Lynn, what... what have they done to you?" He asked with a trembling voice.

"Stop." A females voice commanded.

Lynn and the Skulls stopped in their tracks and just watched Phantom, who was confused as he looked past the Skulls to see someone in the dark hallway walking towards them and then into the room.

The woman looked to be in her late 20's early 30's with long dark brown hair, hazel colored eyes and olive tone skin. She was sporting a dark gray business suit with a blouse and black heels.

"Not exactly an appropriate attire for a place like this." Phantom thought to himself as the mysterious woman walked towards him and then stopped right in front of him. Then, for some reason, she smiled and extended out her hand. "Hello there, I'm Emily Clark. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Phantom. Or should I say, Adam?" Emily introduced herself with her hand still extended, but Phantom just narrowed his eyes and refused to even touch her.

Emily, still smiling, narrowed her eyes too, before she retracted her hand and turned around to face the Skulls to walk back towards them. "Now, Adam, I know what you must be thinking, how is Lynn still alive when you saw her dead in the VR chair as you were escaping the camp? Well, my answer to you is this..." She began to explain before she turned back around to face Phantom. "We brought her back... from the dead. Thanks to vocal chord parasites. And not just her. Take a look at the others." She said as she gestured her hand at Lynn and the other Skulls.

Phantom looked at them all individually, and each one he looked at made his eyes widen and his anger grow. Juno, Craig, Jennifer, Karen, Chris, Logan and Kayla. They were all here behind Lynn and Emily. All except...

"Where's Evan?" Phantom asked with his fists clenched. Emily lost her smile and her eyes darkened. "Oh, you mean that rude little fucker who can't keep his mouth shut? He's still alive. In a way." She answered with a low chuckle, but she wasn't smiling. She then looked up at Phantom, this time with a smile, but twisted. "That son of a bitch got just what he deserved. A life of... hmm, servitude, I would say. But not as a Skull. Only the best becomes one of the Skulls." She said with a sneer, making Phantom clench his fists tighter to the point that it began to hurt.

"Where. Is. He?" Phantom asked slowly, as he readied himself to try and figure out a way to incapacitate Emily and all of his former friends and comrades. Emily just chuckled again, this time menacingly. "Oh, don't you worry about him, Adam. You'll reunite with him soon enough. And don't worry so much about your English speaking vocals. The parasites have been modified to be better than their predecessors. Which means, you can still speak and so can they." She answered taking a step forward before making a gesture with her hand letting the Skulls know that it was time to leave. They bowed their heads and turned around to leave the room, except Lynn.

 _ **"Ad- Adam..."** She spoke, but Emily snapped her head back towards Lynn. "Leave now! I won't tell you again!" She ordered sharply. Lynn trembled before nodding her head then turned to leave the room._This made Phantom clench his teeth, but he kept calm and remembered his training.

Emily closed her eyes and sharply exhaled before looking at Phantom again. "Well then, Adam, it was a real pleasure to meet you. And I sincerely hope that we have the chance to meet again, but I doubt it." She said as the room began to tremble and shake with violent tremors. Phantom looked around the room before looking back at Emily. She just smiled and began to laugh as the tremors got worse. "Have fun with your old friend, Adam. I'm sure it will be a delightful reunion." She taunted before the wall behind Phantom exploded then out popped a hulking frame that grabbed hold of Phantom and dragged him into another part of the underground lab.

Phantom shouted and struggled to get out of the creatures bear hug, but didn't have the strength to match it before it finally threw him down hard to the floor. He rolled across the concrete floor before he used the momentum to prop himself up to finally get a look at the creature that grabbed him.

To his horror, what he saw wasn't a monster, but a poor soul that went through Hell, but didn't come out the same person.

"Evan?" Phantom whispered, but he whispered loud enough for the creature to stop in it's tracks and grab it's head in pain.

Evan shouted and roared as he thrashed violently around the room, crashing into the walls making cracks and even more tremors which shook the entire room. Phantom just watched helplessly before Evan appeared to have calmed down, he lowered his hands from his head before turning to face Phantom with a menacing and terrifying glare. Phantom knew what was going to happen next.

"Fuck..."

 _Diamond Foxes Base..._

"FUCK!!!" Meryl shouted as she tried to reach Adam and Silent Phoenix on the comms, but she's had no success. "Damn it! Why can't I reach them?! This is bullshit! Sunny, are you sure our comms have been updated?!" She shouted as Sunny, Carla, John and the rest of the bases personnel watched her try and contact her soldiers. "Yes, Meryl, all of our equipment is up to date-"

"Then why can't we reach Adam or Silent?! I thought our tech was First Class?! Is this really what I'm paying you for?!" Meryl interrupted Sunny with hurtful words making her frown. Carla walked up to Meryl with trembling hands. "Commander, please, just calm down. I'm sure that Adam and Silent are-"

 ** _SMACK!!!_**

Carla fell down to the floor holding the left side of her face. She looked up at Meryl with fear as the woman looked down at her. "Don't tell me to calm down, Carla! You don't have the authority to tell me to calm down!" She shouted as she turned around to try the comms again, but felt something cold and sharp press against the back of her neck. She slowly turned her head to see John holding out his HF katana against her jugular. "John, what do you think you're doing?" She asked dangerously. John narrowed his eyes. "If you won't let Carla tell you to calm down, then how about this? Meryl, calm the fuck down or I will put you down. Permanently." He threatened.

Meryl narrowed her eyes next. "I could have you court martialed and sent home or thrown in prison for threatening your commanding officer." She threatened. John just pressed the tip of his katana into Meryl's neck more and tighened his grip. "I'm not looking at my commanding officer right now, Meryl. All I see is a good for nothing bitch who isn't thinking straight and is losing all control of herself and the situation." He countered making Meryl glare daggers at him.

The entire room was dangerously quiet as the two stared each other down while Sunny tended to Carla, who backed away from Meryl in fear. Until a booming voice broke the silence.

"BOTH OF YOU, ENOUGH!!!"

Everyone, except John and Meryl, jumped as they looked to the entrance of the room to see Thunder Rogue. He walked up behind John and stopped as he looked at Meryl. "John, lower and sheath your blade. You and Sunny tend to Carla, I'll handle this." He ordered calmly as he waited for John to comply.

John eventually lowered his sword then put it in it's sheath as he turned around and walked over to Carla and Sunny. He helped Carla to her feet as they walked out of the room with Sunny, but not before giving Meryl one last look of disappointment. Meryl snorted and turned back around to try the comms again, but felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Rogue looking at her with a stoic face. "Meryl, you are to leave this room and take a breather. Gather your thoughts and think about what you've done." He said calmly as he gently pushed her away from the console.

Meryl wanted to object but didn't get the chance to. "Meryl, I will not tell you again. If I do, then you will be suspended for a month. Let me and the rest of us do our jobs. You're in no condition to help Phantom or Silent. Now leave." He said lowly with a knowing look. Meryl paused before backing away then stormed out of the room with a huff. Rogue paused for a moment before looking at the other personnel, who were still standing in silence. "Right then, get back to work, all of you. I'll keep trying the comms while the rest of you try and find out what is going on inside that fucking mansion." He ordered as everyone nodded their heads and returned to their posts to find out what is happening with Phantom and how they can help him.

 _Back with Phantom..._

Phantom was thrown against the wall, once again, by Evan, who had become a hulking, large creature that was too strong for him to handle in CQC. He propped himself up against the wall and looked at Evan before he stood up. Evan snarled under his breath before he decided to suddenly rush Phantom, but Phantom, with his ARS, readied the grenade launcher before shooting it at Evan's rushing form.

 ** _BOOM!!!_**

The grenade shell exploded and Evan roared in anger as Phantom ran towards one of the nearest doors and rushed out of the room. He ran down a long hallway, but it wasn't long until he could hear Evan roaring behind him along with his loud, thudding footsteps as he chased him. Phantom eventually came upon an end to the long hallway as he burst through another door and into a different room.

This room, however, looked like it was further deep underground. There were multiple vats of chemicals in this room and Phantom was standing 100 feet above them on a long metal bridge. "Oh, Christ. I seriously took a wrong turn. I don't even know how long I have been running for." He thought before he heard rapidly approaching footsteps behind him. Taking a quick look behind him, Phantom could see Evan running up behind him in the hallway before he decided to take off across the bridge.

As Phantom just made it halfway across the metal bridge, he eventually heard Evan's loud footsteps clanging loudly on the bridge, but they stopped after a moment making him stop as well. He looks behind him to see Evan looking over both sides of the bridge before glaring at him.

"Evan?" He called out to him, but he didn't dare walk toward him, this could've been a trick or a trap. **"Sssnake..."** Evan snarled before he snorted then turned around and walked away from the bridge and out of the room. Phantom, looking confused, just scratched his head before he turned and jogged across the rest of the bridge. He made it to the other side then pulled out his iDroid, but the screen was showing nothing but a blank screen that said _"Map not available."_

He sighed sharply before putting the iDroid away. "Ok, so, I'm going to be walking around this place blind for a while. And considering that I don't even know how I got down here, I'm further into the laboratory than I thought." He whispered as he walked through another door to leave the chemical room behind.

"Sorry, Silent. You're going to have to wait a bit longer for that rescue." He thought as continued to walk down the corridor. Before long, he could hear muffled footsteps coming from somewhere, but he couldn't pinpoint where they were. He eventually heard the footsteps getting closer, so he made a quick decision to hide in the nearest locker, that was right beside him, and keep quiet.

Phantom entered the locker and kept as quiet as he possibly could. The footsteps eventually made their way to his location before they stopped until he heard loud and heavy breathing. He decided to take a risky chance and took a peek out of the lockers slits to see what was making the footsteps, although he already knew the answer.

It was Evan.

"He's looking for me. Persistent bastard." He thought as Evan examined the area around him before moving on when he couldn't find Phantom.

When the loud, thudding footsteps were a good distance away, Phantom leaned his head back and let out a loud sigh before shaking his head. "This... is going to be a long fucking night." He thought as he exited the locker and tried to find his way back to Silent's cell without running into Evan.

 _3 hours later: Diamond Foxes base..._

Rogue and the other Diamond Foxes Intel personnel for the past 3 hours tried to find a way to get into contact with Phantom or Silent, but they weren't having any luck.

"Damn it!" Rogue shouted as he pounded his hands on the computer console. Everyone in the room looked at him then back to their work stations as some of them held their heads in despair or had their heads down on their work stations due to exhaustion. Everyone was tired and they had been working nonstop for hours, they were beginning to get worried for Phantom and Silent's safety, but they couldn't give up.

Not now.

Until Rogue heard someone walking up behind him. He took a glance to see who it was and saw that it was Sunny. "What can I do for you, Sunny?" He asked with an exhausted tone. "All of our equipment's been loaded up and ready to go, Boss. Just give the order, and we'll head out to the Seychelles Motherbase. The AI is waiting for us, sir." She answered, but Rogue tiredly shook his head.

"No, I will not leave Phantom and Silent out there on their own without any outside help. I can't abandon them, I will NOT abandon them, Sunny." He said, but Sunny walked up beside him and placed a hand on his. "Sir, there's nothing we can do for them now. I know how you feel and I don't like it either, but if we move to our new motherbase, then we will have even more powerful equipment to help them." She explained. Rogue slowly looked up at her as she continued. "And who knows? By the time we get to our new base and get everything set up, they'll be on their way to the Seychelles on Adam's helicopter. And we'll be there waiting to greet them when they get here. Soft beds, warm food and all." She said with a trembling smile.

She wanted to reamain strong, but even she was never in a situation like this with any of the Diamond Foxes soldiers. Not with John, Carla or Meryl. She wanted so desperately to stay strong, but doesn't know how long she can do that if she doesn't even know what's happening to two of her friends.

Then for the first time in her life, she saw Rogue let a stray tear fall down his cheek before he spoke. "I can't be like him, Sunny. I can't be like my great granfather. I can't leave my comrades behind." He said with his voice trembling. Sunny placed her other hand on his shoulder. "You are strong and cold when you need to be, Boss, but you are NOTHING like Colonel Volgin. You are better than he ever was." She assured him making him look at her before he nodded his head in thanks.

"But there is nothing we can do for either Phantom or Silent right now, Boss. If we want any chance to help them get home, we need to get to the Seychelles Motherbase and set everything up now." She said to him urgently. Rogue looked back at the screen, looked at the Intel personnel, then back to Sunny before he sighed sharply and nodded his head.

"Everyone pack your belongings and get to the nearest chopper quickly. The sooner we get to our new Motherbase, the better we can help our two soldiers in Germany! That's an order!" He shouted as everyone quickly shut down their workstations and headed out of the room to pack their stuff.

Rogue looked at Sunny and nodded his head before she nooded in response then quickly walked out of the room. He then turned to look at the big screen of the Intel room that showed the last contact transmission of Phantom, but it was from 3 hours before. He sighed sharply before turning the screen off then turned to walk out of the room with a determined look on his face.

"Phantom, Silent, both better not die on us. No one is giving up on you two, and neither am I."


	17. Chapter17:VoicesOfThePast

**Disclaimer: I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.**

Rogue gathered the remaining soldiers of Diamond Foxes, soon to be, former base and hurried them all to their helicopters. "Hurry! The quicker we get to our new Motherbase, the quicker we can help our comrades in Germany! Move your asses!" He commanded as he rushed towards his own transport helicopter.

He hopped inside and took one last look at the now empty base. It felt strange to him. There were still people clamoring around to get to where they need to go, but the base now seemed desolate and hollow. He hadn't even stepped foot on the new base yet and already the memory of the old base was beginning to haunt him.

He shook his head of any negative thoughts, closed the side door and looked to his pilot. "Pilot! Hurry and take off, we need to hurry!" He ordered.

"Yes, sir!" The pilot replied as he rose the helicopter into the air.

Rogue looked out the side window as the helicopter rose, but he looked desperately worried. "Phantom, Silent. Hang in there. We'll help you as soon as possible." He thought as multiple Diamond Foxes helicopters took off towards their new Motherbase in the Seychelles.

 _Meanwhile, with Phantom..._

Phantom quietly walked around the underground laboratory wanting to avoid another confrontation with the now mutated Evan. "Man, I need to find a way to contact the base soon, or I'm going to go nuts down here." He thought to himself as he came upon two pathways.

"Hmm... left or right?" He wondered.

"Well, people say that right is right, so I guess I'll go right." He whispered and shrugged as he turned to walk down the right corridor. Phantom had only walked a few feet before he heard something ahead of him.

 ** _Thump... thump... thump..._**

It was then that he faintly see a pair of glowing bright orange eyes staring right at him before the thumping footsteps quickened their pace.

 **"Sssnake..." The figure snarled as it jogged towards him _._**

"And I call bullshit on whoever said that right is right!" He shouted and ran just as the hulking figure burst into a run, growling and snarling as it did.

Phantom looked behind him to see that the figure was Evan, once again, chasing him. "Fuck! Where does he keep coming from?!" He thought to himself as he ran away from his now fallen comrade. "I have to figure out a way to lose him... or kill him. Although that's easier said than done." He thought again as he came up a huge open area that held weapon cases lying around.

"Ok, there has to be something in here that can buy me some time." He wondered as he jumped over the railing and landed on the floor to quickly start checking for any useful weapons to use against Evan. Unfortunately, Phantom didn't have enough time to look inside many of the weapons cases as Evan stormed into the area, searched for Phantom and then jumped over the railing himself before he landed on the floor with a loud and earthshaking thud.

The entire room trembled as some of the weapons cases fell over onto the floor and opened to reveal even more weapons, making Phantom quickly scan each of the open case before his eyes landed on a Anti-Tank missile launcher.

He then looked back at Evan who glared at him then let out a loud and ferocious roar.

 ** _"SSSNAAAKE!!!"_** Evan roared before he charged at Phantom, wanting to grab hold of him and beat him until there was nothing left. Phantom, however, was quick on his feet and make a quick dive for the missile launcher.

Evan rushed past him and skidded almost to a halt before he quickly turned to try and chase Phantom again. But Phantom already had the missile launcher in his hands as he prepared to fire the first of four shots.

"Four shots, Adam. Make them count." He thought to himself as he squeezed the trigger and the missile was sent flying out towards Evan, who was within grabbing distance of Phantom.

The missile exploded and sent Phantom flying backwards hard into a wall knocking the wind out of him. He shook his head to get his bearings back and tried to ignore the ringing in his ears, but the blast explosion was close and pretty loud. He then looked up to see Evan still, somehow, standing. His arms were crossed, shielding himself. "He must've put his arms up before the missile hit." Phantom thought as Evan quietly groaned while he tried to keep himself standing.

Phantom looked closer at him to see that he was covered in something, but it wasn't shrapnel or ash from the fire.

It was... armor?

"Son of a bitch! When the hell could he do that?!" Phantom yelled inside his head with a look of shock as Evan slowly raised his head to glare at him. His arms suddenly dropped down and he tried to take a step but couldn't as he stumbled forward with a groan and landed face first on the floor with a loud thud that echoed throughout the room.

Phantom let out a sigh of relief. "There's no way that killed him if he managed to guard it, but I'm not sticking around to find out if he's still alive." He thought before he noticed a nearby door and ran in it's direction to leave the room.

 _Meanwhile, with Sunny, Carla and John..._

John sat with Sunny and Carla inside their transport helicopter feeling antsy. John tapped his foot repeatedly while waiting for word from the pilot that they were near the new Motherbase, but it had only been over an hour since they left the Texas base.

"John, calm down. We'll get to the base and we'll help Adam and Liza better there." Sunny said trying to put John's mind at ease, but it wasn't working. John didn't say a word when he looked at Sunny then back to the cockpit of the helicopter. She sighed before she turned to look at Carla, who was sitting next to her. "How are you doing, Carla? Is your... cheek still throbbing?" She asked.

Carla brought her hand up to her cheek and gently rubbed it still feeling the slight tingling from where Meryl had smacked her in the base. Her lip trembled before she answered. "N-no. The pain is still there, but it's not as bad as it was." She said making Sunny nod before she rubbed her back. "Carla, I'm not defending Meryl and I'm not going to for what she did, but you have to understand that she's scared. She lost control and panicked, but... that doesn't give her the right to do what she did." She said looking at Carla who only turned her head away at the mention of Meryl.

That's when John snapped his head at Sunny with a slight glare. "We're all scared, Sunny and you're right, Meryl shouldn't have smacked Carla. She was only trying to help her and she got a smack in the face for it. Meryl shouldn't have lost control the way she did and we all want to help Adam and Liza, but how are we supposed to help them if one of our leading commanders can't keep her fucking head on straight?" He vented with his fists clenched.

Sunny just looked down and tried to think of an answer, but she couldn't. John continued to look at Sunny waiting for an answer as Carla turned her head back to look at her friend and wait for an answer too, but an answer wouldn't be given.

Sunny just lifted her head back up to look at her two best friends and shrugged with a shake of her head. "I... I don't know, John." She said with a sigh.

John nodded his head then looked back towards the cockpit. "Then we'll deal with that matter AFTER we help Adam and Liza when we get to base." He said lowly as the helicopters ventured further towards their new home.

 _Back with Phantom..._

Phantom headed back up towards the surface of the underground laboratory and began to remember his way back to the holding cells. He kept the Anti-Tank missile launcher on him just in case Evan showed back up. He had just finished another flight of stairs heading back to the surface when he heard multiple voices coming from a single room. He looked to his left to see a cracked door with two blinking lights coming out of the room.

He cautiously walked towards it and slowly pushed the door open to reveal what looked like not one, but two AI pods on opposite sides of each other in the room. On one side of the room there was an AI pod that had a yellow blinking light, but it was flickering like it's power was about to die. On the other side of the room the other AI pod had a bluish white blinking light and both pods were speaking at the exact same time.

 _"Stay alert! He'll be through here, I know it. I'm going to swat down a couple of bothersome flies..."_

 _"One sword keeps another in the sheath. Sometimes the threat of violence alone is a deterrent. Sometimes by taking a life, others can be preserved. It's the code the samurai lived by."_

 _"There definitely is a resemblance, don't you think... little brother? Or should I say big brother? I'm not sure... anyway, it doesn't matter. You and I are the last surviving Sons of Big Boss."_

Phantom snapped his head towards the AI pod with the flickering yellow light when it mentioned Big Boss, but he dropped it for the moment and continued to listen to the AI pods speak.

 _"Snake, I'll be fine. From now on, I'm living my life by my own will. You and I are both just pawns in this proxy war... but once this is over... we will have our freedom!"_

 _"So, the snakes finally come out of his hole? Are you ready now... my brother? I'M YOU!!! I'M YOUR SHADOW!!! ASK THE FATHER THAT YOU KILLED!! I'LL SEND YOU TO HELL TO MEET HIM!!!"_

 _"I'll release you. It's the only way I'll ever be free. I've got nothing to lose. It was never going to work out for me... it even rained the day I was born. The... the lightning..."_

 _"HAVE AT YOU, SNAKE!!!"_

 _"Sunny... forgive me..."_

Phantom looked at the pod with the bluish white light when it mentioned Sunny. He narrowed his eyes and continued to listen.

 _"NOT YET, SNAKE!!! IT'S NOT OVER YET!!!"_

 _"SNAKE, HURRY!!!"_

 _"SNAAAKE!!!"_

 _"ROOOSE!!!"_

Both lights went off on the pods, but the pod with the bluish white light soon turned back on. The pod with the yellow light wasn't so fortunate. Phantom, deciding that there was nothing he could do with the one AI pod, walked over to the AI pod that had it's light still on. He walked up to it and tried to figure out a way to take out the hard drive, or take whatever data it had, back with him to base until he noticed a port that he could plug into.

"Hmm, could I plug my iDroid in here? It looks like I can." He thought, then the pod spoke again.

 _"Snake...? Is... is that you?"_ It asked, but Phantom wasn't so sure that he should answer, so he just remained quiet until it spoke again.

 _"No... no, you look like him, but... you're not him. Who... who are you?"_ It asked him and this time Phantom decided to answer.

"Phantom."

 _"Phantom. Hmm... nice codename."_ The pod complimented him, but he wasn't sure what to do now, except one thing.

"Who or what are you?" He asked the pod, but it remained silent for a few minutes before it answered.

 _"I... I don't know. I've been here for... only God knows how long. I do remember some things, but they're fragmented and I only remember names. Two names that I know are important. Little John and... Rose. I don't know how important they are, but... the names are connected to things or... people... people that are important to me. Although... I can't go to them. I can't go anywhere."_ The pod answered making Phantom wonder.

"Is this pod...? No... it can't be." He thought as he quickly pulled out his iDroid and plugged it into the port of the pod.

The pod sensed the intrusion.

 _"What are you doing?"_ It asked making Phantom look up at it's light. "Helping." He simply said as the data and the AI downloaded into the iDroid. When the download was complete the AI spoke through the iDroid. _"Wha-What did you do to me? Where am I?"_ It asked in a panic.

Phant shushed it. "Quiet, quiet. I told you. I'm helping. I think I know who you are, but... I don't know what happened to you. But I do have friends that may be able to help. I need you to trust me. Alright?" He said to his iDroid, who had remained silent before it spoke again. _"Alright. If you think you can help me... then I'll help to. In fact, I can help you with your comms. Just plug into the nearest radio you can find."_ It said before going silent.

Phantom looked up and smiled when he noticed that there was communications console in the room. He walked over to it and plugged the iDroid to the port near one of the consoles switches.

 _"Standby."_ The AI spoke as Phantoms radio comms were repaired.

After a moment Phantom took off the earpiece off of the iDroid and placed it in his ear before he activated the iDroid again. "Diamond Foxes base, this is Phantom, do you copy? This is an emergency. Diamond Foxes base, I repeat, this is Phantom, does anyone copy? Over." He spoke into his radio and waited patiently, but desperately, for an answer.

Until...

 _"Phantom?! Thank god!"_

 _With Thunder Rogue..._

 _"Diamond Foxes... this is... antom, do... copy? This... an emergency. Diamo... Foxes base, I repea... is Phantom, does any... copy? Over."_ The pilot heard over the radio.

"Boss! I'm getting something! I think it's Phantom!" He shouted to the back as Rogue shot up out of his seat to the cockpit and snatched up a radio. "Phantom?! Thank god!" He shouted then waited for Phantom to speak again.

 _"Boss? Thank... I got through. Listen, I hav... got Silent yet bu... working my wa... to the surface and I'll be... my way out of the lab..."_ Phantom spoke, but the signal wasn't strong enough for Rogue to make out what he was saying. "Phantom say again, I didn't catch that." Rogue said into the radio and waited.

 _"I shou... on my way out... mansion and out of... soon, but tha... take a while since... wai... wait! Boss, I have to... there's som... chas... DAMN IT!!!"_ Phantom said before radio contact was cut off. Then Rogue and the pilot briefly heard a death chilling voice.

 ** _"SSSNAAA...!!!"_**

The transmission ended.

"Phantom?" He said into the radio, but no response.

"Phantom come in! Phantom respond!"

Silence.

"Phantom- GODDAMN IT!!!" Rogue shouted before he threw the radio against the inside of the helicopter as it clattered to the floor. He then sat back down in his seat and held his hands on his head. His hands trembled as he continued to feel powerless before he looked up at the pilot. "Soldier, how much longer until we arrive at the Seychelles?" He asked as calmly as he possibly could, but the pilot took a moment before he answered.

"In... another 3 hours, sir. 2 hours... if luck is on our side." The pilot answered sadly. Rogue nodded his head and looked out the side window. "Son, luck is not on our side today, but I hope it's on Phantoms. Because he's gonna need it." He said in a depressed tone as all of the transport helicopters continued flying towards their destination.

Then the pilot spoke again. "Sir? Just... what was that that we heard after Phantom was cut off?" He asked, but Rogue shook his head.

"I don't know, son. I don't know..."

 _Back with Phantom..._

Phantom had managed to get a hold of Rogue and tried speaking to him to let him know that he hadn't retrieved Silent just yet and that he shouldn't be too much longer with his mission, but in his haste to say all that, Evan showed back up and burst into the room. Phantom had to end the transmission and run again.

Then had just managed to briefly incapacitate Evan with the missile launcher again as he quickly made his way back to the holding cells, but before he made it back to Silent's cell he came across a room that looked to be the main area of security, surveillance, communications, etc.

So, he rushed in and locked down all the heavy duty security doors that Evan could use to get to him, but he kept his way out open and a clear path. He then noticed the self destruct button on the console.

He snorted and smirked. "Who even has these anymore?" He thought out loud before he made his way to the holding cells and to Silent's cell.

He picked the lock and rushed inside the cell to quickly check on her. Fortunately, she was breathing, but she was still unconscious and her heartbeat was dangerously slow. "I need to get you out of here and we need to get away from Evan." He whispered as he gently picked her up and put her over his shoulders. He then made his way out of the cell and out of the room.

 **BANG!!!**

He jumped as he heard a loud bang in the distance. "If that's Evan then I need to hurry, because I know he's not happy." He thought as he walked back into the main security room and pressed the self destruct button.

"Have fun, Evan!" He shouted as the alrams blared and Evan continued his banging, but rapidly.

 _"The self destruct sequence has been activated. All personnel evacuate immediately. This area will self destruct in 10 minutes. All personnel evacuate immediately."_


	18. Chapter18:GoodbyeEvan

**Disclaimer: I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.**

Phantom carried Silent on his back while heading to the surface and he could also hear the loud banging of metal as Evan tried desperately to get through the metal doors to catch up to him.

But with only minutes left to get get to the surface, Phantom reached the elevator and pressed the button that took the elevator back to the mansion.

While the elevator headed up he tried to wake Silent up, but she was still unconscious and only groaned as Phantom gently shook her. "Come on, Silent I can't take Evan by myself if he manages to get to the surface." He whispered to her unconscious form before he could hear someone suddenly yelling at him over the radio.

 _"PHANTOM!!! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, RESPOND WOULD YA?! YOU'VE BEEN NON-RESPONSIVE FOR HOURS!!! WHERE ARE YOU?!"_ Echo-5 shouted over the radio making Phantom cringe as the radio made his ear ring for a moment. "Echo-5, I'm still here! Stop the shouting!" He responded.

 _"Oh, thank god, Phantom! Where the hell have you been? You've had everyone worried sick! What happened?"_ Echo-5 asked as Phantom could just barely hear the helicopter in the distance. "I'm almost to the surface." He thought before he answered Echo-5's question.

"I'm sorry I haven't responded, I have no excuse for that, but the mansion had an underground laboratory and I must've been deeper underground than I thought because my radio hasn't been working at all while I was down there. They must've had a jamming device somewhere, but that's not important anymore. I have Silent here with me and I'm returning to the surface now. There are no guards or patrols anywhere near the mansion, so the extraction point is going to be at the front of the mansion, but at a safe distance. The mansion will soon self destruct. And you better be there before I walk out, Echo-5 because Silent is in a critical condition right now and we need to get her back to base ASAP." He explained as the elevator soon stopped, Phantom had reached the surface.

 _"Roger that. I'm on my way."_ Echo-5 responded.

Phantom picked Silent up again and ran as fast as he could out of the mansion then out the front door to see Echo-5 touching down near the extraction point, but before he could reach the helicopter...

 ** _BOOM!!!_**

The mansion and the area around it exploded sending Phantom and Silent flying before they landed a few meters away from Echo-5.

 _"Phantom! Are you alright?! Come on, you have to get up!"_ Echo-5 shouted at Phantom over the radio sounding worried, but Phantom could barely hear him. He groaned as he tried to sit up and look for Silent. Fortunately, she was lying only a few feet away from him, so he shakily stood up and walked over to her to pick her up and head towards the helicopter to complete his mission and head back to base.

 _"Phantom? Wait, Phantom! What the hell is that?!"_ Echo-5 asked in a panic over the radio.

Phantom looked up at Echo-5 in the pilot seat with confusion then back towards the flaming ruins of the mansion to see a large silhouette standing in front of the large flames. He squinted his eyes to see what it was, but he didn't need to think about it for long.

It was Evan.

 **"SSSNAAAKE!!!"** _He yelled before he charged at Phantom._

Phantom,with his adrenaline kicking in, ran towards the helicopter, opened the side door and put Silent inside before running to the front of the helicopter. "Get out of here! Go!" He yelled. _"But what about you?!"_ Echo-5 asked in concern. "I'll be fine, now go! It's me he wants! Find a safe place to stabilize Silent and wait for me to contact you!" Phantom shouted over the motor roar of the helicopter.

Echo-5 nodded his head then flew as far away from the area as possible to get away from Evan. Phantom then looked at Evan, who had gotten close enough to try and crush him before he dodged out of the way.

Phantom rolled away from Evan and brought up the missile launcher to put an end to the fight as quickly as possible, but Evan caught on to this and backhanded Phantom away from him while knocking the launcher out of his hands.

Phantom landed hard on the ground with the wind being knocked out of him as he watched Evan stomp closer to him. He then sat up with his primary weapon ready and began shooting his face, which Evan blocked with one hand as he stomped closer to Phantom. He stood up as he reloaded his primary and began shooting again.

Evan continued to block every shot with his one hand as Phantom backed away from him so he could think of a way to kill Evan until he unwittingly backed up into a tree. Phantom panicked for a moment before Evan grabbed his head with both of his gigantic hands and began to squeeze.

Feeling his head being crushed, Phantom quickly grabbed a grenade from his belt, pulled the pin and shoved it into Evan's mouth.

Evan quickly dropped Phantom to the ground and tried to take a grenade out of his mouth, but couldn't. Phantom then pulled out his .45 and shot the grenade making it explode, but he knew it wasn't enough to kill him. So, he shook off the pain that was throbbing in his head and quickly ran to the missile launcher before picking it up then aimed it at Evan's now approaching form. He activated his unnatural armor and ran towards Phantom.

"Two shots left, Adam. You won't get a third if you screw this up." Phantom thought to himself as he squeezed the trigger to launch the missile at Evan.

He tried to block it like the first time, but it didn't help as much since he groaned and fell to his knees while looking up to glare at Phantom. The armor faded away and all that was left was flesh.

Evan just continued to glare at Phantom before he suddenly nodded his head and closed his eyes.

"Goodbye, Evan. I'm sorry." Phantom whispered as he squeezed the trigger again sending the final missile towards Evan.

The top half of Evan's body exploded and all that remained were the legs. The legs fell over while they twitched for a moment before stopping. Phantom let out a deep sigh as he dropped the missile launcher before falling down on his back to rest for a moment.

He thought that the emotions would be getting to him by now, but they haven't. He was worried about that, but he didn't have time to worry about it now. He had to get back to base, so he contacted Echo-5. "Echo-5, you there?" He asked.

 _"Phantom? Oh, thank god. Yeah, I'm here. Did you take care of that monster?"_ He questioned making Phantom flinch at the word before he answered. "Yeah, I took of the... the monster. Has Silent been stabilized?" He asked as he sat up. _"Yeah, she's stable. I'm just finishing up with her now. I'm on my way back to you. Just sit tight."_ Echo-5 answered before cutting off radio contact.

Phantom just smiled and chuckled softly. "No rush. Take your time." He said as his eyes closed until eventually fell unconscious and fell back down on the ground.

 _Hours later..._

Phantom was in and out of consciousness during the helicopter ride back to base, he looked to the side to see Silent still unconscious, but now breathing normally and steadily with a medical mask over her mouth to help her breath.

He eventually felt the helicopter touch down somewhere and felt a bunch of hands all around him helping him out of the helicopter before he slipped into unconscious again.

He woke up to see that he was inside of, what looked like, a medical room and tried to sit up. He groaned trying to sit up, but felt a pair of hands on his chest gently pushing him back down against the bed. "No, no. Don't move yet. You're still disoriented, Mr. Eagles. So, don't move just yet." Adam looked looked up to see that the person holding him down was a young woman with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. She was wearing an olive drab military uniform with a medical patch on the front pocket of her shirt.

"Where am I?" He asked her, but she just shook her head and patted his shoulder. "All your questions will be answered soon, just rest for a while longer. I'll alert the Boss and have him come to the Medical Platform." She said before walking out of the room when Adam layed back down on the bed until what she said suddenly hit him.

"Wait... Medical Platform? Am I...?" He said while trying to quickly get up out of his bed, but he couldn't find the strength to move the rest of his body. So, he just layed down and waited patiently for the nurse to come back with the Boss. Which he was assuming was Rogue or Meryl.

 _30 minutes later..._

Adam waited patiently in the bed with his arms crossed until the nurse walked back in with Rogue and Meryl. "Adam! Thank god you're alright!" Rogue said as he walked towards him and patted him on his back. Adam smiled then looked at Meryl, who smiled at him with tears in her eyes, but she looked like she had seen better days, which made him worried, but he dropped it for now.

"Yeah, I honestly didn't think I'd make it out of there, but I did." He said with a smile and a shrug until he just remembered something important. Two somethings in fact. "Wait. Silent, is she alright?" He asked making both Rogue and Meryl nod their heads. "Yes, Silent is just fine. She's here in the Medical Platform too. She's still unconscious, but she'll recover. She just needs rest for now." Meryl said as she sat down on the bed with Adam.

"What about my iDroid? I downloaded something, or someone, into it." He said making Rogue, Meryl and the nurse look at each other in confusion before looking back at Adam. "What did you download, son?" Rogue asked him.

But Adam shook his head. "I-I don't know. All I know is that the AI, or whatever the hell it is, said that it had been down in that lab for God knows how long. And it mentioned John and someone named Rose." He said making Meryl look at Rogue before he suddenly darted out of the room.

Adam looked at the door with confusion before he looked at Meryl. "Meryl, what's going on? Am I missing something here?" He asked making Meryl place her hand on his. "Adam, Rosemary is John's mother. And the only person who would call her "Rose" for short is her husband." She answered.

Adam had to think for a moment before it finally clicked. "You mean...?" He began but stopped and Meryl just shook her head.

 _With Rogue..._

Rogue hopped into a jeep and headed back to the Command Plateform with haste to find John and Sunny. Thanks to the lights on the interconnecting bridges, he reached the designated platform safely during the late night. He fortunately saw all both of them walking together outside and about to walk inside. "John! Sunny!" He called making them turn around to look at him.

"Boss! Is Adam ok?" Sunny asked him as he ran up to them. "Yes, Sunny he's fine, but I need to talk to both of you first. Where's is Adam's equipment?" He asked them almost urgently. Sunny and John looked at each other before looking back at Rogue. "On the Combat Platform in his new room by your orders, Boss." John answered.

Rogue nodded then motioned for both of them to follow him. They all hopped into the jeep and headed towards the Combat Platform. "Boss, what's going on? Why are you recovering Adam's equipment? Is something wrong?" John asked Rogue as they headed towards the platform making the man shake his head. "No, nothing's wrong, son, but Adam has brought something to my attention that we need to look into!" He answered over the howl of the wind where he was driving so fast.

"What did Adam say, Boss? Is there something we should know?" Sunny asked. Rogue nodded. "I'll explain in more detail after we find Adam's iDroid, but what you both need to know is that Adam came across what he assumes is another AI or someone's conscious mind trapped inside an AI pod." Rogue answered as they got closer to the Combat Platform.

His answer made Sunny and John look confused as they looked at each other before looking back at Rogue. "But what does that have to do with us, sir?" John asked just as they reached the platform. Rogue, before he got out of the jeep, turned around to look at John. "The AI mentioned both you and your mother by name." He said making John freeze before rushing into the platform to Adam's new room.

 _Back with Adam and Meryl..._

"Adam, what all can you tell me about the AI pod?" Meryl asked him as she sat next to him on the bed, but Adam just shook his head. "I don't know what all I can tell you Meryl other than what I just told you, but that's not what's really bothering me right now." He answered as he looked down at his hands.

Meryl, looking worried, took hold of his hand and held it in hers again. "What, Adam? What's bothering you then?" She asked him making him look up.

"There was a... a second AI pod in the room with the one I talked to. It had a bright yellow blinking light, but it was flickering. Like the power or it's battery was about to die." He said looking at her making her nod as she waited for him to continue. "But the thing that's bothering me is... the AI pod that I talked to still had it's... I think it was a memory board or something, but it still had it before I downloaded it into my iDroid. The other one though... the one with the yellow light? It's memory board was gone."

He said as he continued to look at Meryl, who had a look of confusion, but also concern on her face.

 _Back with Rogue..._

Rogue had found Adam's room and rummaged through his equipment until he found the iDroid. He ran back out of the platform back to the jeep to head to the R and D Platform. John and Sunny had more questions they wanted to ask, but decided to wait until they could get straight answers from either Rogue or Adam's iDroid.

They didn't have to wait for very long as Rogue drove fast enough to the R and D Platform that would make a race car driver jealous. They pulled up and parked outside the R and D Platform before rushing.

Carla, who had been using the main computer in the platform looked as Rogue, John and Sunny burst in. "Boss? John? Sunny? What are you doing? What's going on?" She asked as Rogue walked past her and began using the main computer before plugging in Adam's iDroid. "Boss, wait a minute! What are you doing?" She said, wondering why Diamond Foxes Commander plugged in an iDroid into the R and D Platforms main computer.

Sunny walked up to her and calmed her down before she explained. "Carla, the Boss believes that Adam's iDroid holds important information that could help us. Just trust us and give us a minute, ok?" She said calming her friend down, who nodded and stood aside to let them do what they came here to do.

Before long, a voice came through on the speakers making everyone jump. " _Ugh... great. Where am I now?"_ The AI asked. John and Sunny looked at each other before Rogue spoke. "You're safe. Our mutual friend, Ada-uhhh... Phantom brought you here." He said using Adam's codename.

 _"Phantom? Oh, right. Yeah, he hadn't responded or used his device for a while, so I was starting to get worried."_ The AI said making the scientists in the room all look at each other with astonishment and excitement before Rogue spoke to it again.

"Phantom is just fine. He was unconscious after a mission for a while, but he's fine. And I have some guests here for you. You know their names because you mentioned them to Phantom. Their friends of his. John and Sunny." Rogue introduces them as they just stand in their spots, frozen.

It was a few minutes before the AI spoke again. _"John? Little John? And Sunny?"_ It asked making John and Sunny look at each other then back at the main computer before they finally realized.

"Dad?"

"Raiden?"

They both asked while smiling. They soon got their answers.

 _"John? Sunny? You sound different. You both sound like you got... big."_ Raiden said with happiness in his voice before he paused for a few minutes then spoke again. _"Wait... oh, god. John, how long have I been gone?"_ He said, dreading the answer. John to a moment to collect himself before he answered. "Since... since 2018, dad. When... when you left to fight whatever was left of the corporations that were kidnapping children and turning them into child soldiers or cyborgs." He began then paused before Sunny rubbed his back to calm him when he began to cry.

"And... and you succeeded in saving them, but then you just... you just disappeared. Mom had thought that... that you had died and she was a wreck for a long time, but she never remarried because... because even though she thought you were probably dead, she still had faith that you were still alive... somewhere. Fighting to come back to us." He said with tears streaming down his cheeks.

Sunny hugged him tight as he cried and everyone remained silent, not wanting to say a single word.

 _"Son... I am so... sorry that I missed just about your whole life growing up. And there's nothing I can do to take that back, but... I'm here now. And if you'll let me, at least until we can find my body, I can start being there for you now and Sunny too, if she'll let me."_ Raiden said sounding hopeful, but prepared to be turned down.

Sunny looked at John then at the main computer with a smile. "Raiden, I'm always on your side, no matter what. And you're here now, safe and sound. That's all matters." She said happily before looking at John, who had wiped his tears away then nodded. "She's right, dad. You're here now and you're safe. That's all that matters and yes, of course I'll let you be here for me. I wouldn't have it any other way." He answered his father with a smile.

 _"I'm glad to hear that. Thank you both."_ Raiden said, thanking both of them before he spoke again with a little more urgency. _"By the way, you two and... who is it I was speaking to first?"_ He asked Rogue.

"Oh, you can call me Thunder Rogue or Rogue for short. I am the Head Commander of the Diamond Foxes." He answered when he realized Raiden was talking about him.

 _"Rogue. Got it. While Phantom was unconscious, I had time to look around the files and data that he downloaded into his device."_ He began.

"It's called the iDroid, sir." Carla said in the background.

"Thank you, Carla but not now, ok?" Sunny said.

Carla put her thumbs up and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry." She said allowing Raiden to continue.

 _"Thank you, Carla. Anyway, I did as much digging as I could before I spoke with you guys, Sunny. And I found something that none of you are going to like. The past cannot stay dead and it's coming back to haunt us."_ He said as Sunny, John, Rogue and Carla walked up to the main computer and looked at the screen that was showing them everything that Raiden had found in the files.

What they saw next made their eyes widen with fear, especially Sunny and John when they saw the file name and the blueprints that came after it.

 _"Next Generation Metal Gear Project- Codename: Goliath."_


	19. Chapter19:MeetingThePhoenix

**Disclaimer: I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.**

Adam had spent almost a week on the Medical Platform. The doctors, along with Rogue and Meryl, wanted to be absolutely sure that he was mentally and physically fit to return to the field after what he had been through at the mansion in Germany. Once they felt that he was fine to get out of his bed, he took a stroll outside the platform and took a look at Diamond Foxes new home. It didn't look as rusty as it did when he was here last and that surprised him.

He closed his eyes and felt the wind blow around him before he decided to walk back into the platform to pay Silent Phoenix a visit, but he stopped to see Hal leaning on the railing on the second level of the platform with a distraught look on his face. Curious, but mainly concerned, Adam walked to the second level and approached Hal.

"Hal? You alright?" Adam asked as he walked up to the scientist. Hal shook his head gently before looking at him with a forced smile. "Hey, Adam. Yeah, I'm alright, but what about you? Are you ok?" He asked, but Adam wasn't buying it. He crossed his arms before he answered. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just need a few more days of rest before I head back out into the field. Doctors orders. I'll ask you again though, Hal... are you alright? You had a look on your face before I came up here." He stated.

Hal frowned and looked away from Adam, but didn't answer.

"Did you talk to the AI pod?" He asked making Hal flinch. Adam sighed. "Yeah, I thought you did." He said as he waited patiently. Eventually, Hal sighed before looking at Adam with tears forming in his eyes. "My... my father... wasn't the man that I thought he was Adam. When I was little, very little, I thought my father always seemed to be like a happy go lucky guy and that nothing could bring him down. He always painted this picture of himself to me that he was a good man and that the things he created were for the good of mankind... but... I was mistaken." He explained before pausing to take a breath.

Then he continued.

"My father, Huey, used to work for Big Boss." He admitted before looking at Adam, who had a look of shock on his face before Hal continued. "I know. It surprised me too. And for a moment, for just a single moment, I thought that my father and Big Boss were like Snake and I. Two best buds who would take on the world together and nothing could get in their way, but... again, I was wrong about my father. I've never been so wrong in my life." He said with a sigh as he lowered his head.

Adam waited for a moment before he spoke. "Do you know what happened between them? Your dad and Big Boss?" He asked making Hal sigh deeply. "Yeah, I do and the AI pod told me everything." He answered before continuing. "Back when Big Boss had another private military group, MSF, he saved my father from a man named Hot Coldman, which is an odd name in my opinion, but he saved him and brought him to the MSF Motherbase. He brought in my mother too, which was... odd, considering she tried to kill him, but he still brought her to MSF because of her genius intellect. After that everything went fine during and after the Peace Walker Incident." Hal explained while Adam just stood beside him and listened.

"But... weeks or months after that, everything went to hell... because of my father. The U.S offered Big Boss to hold an inspection, but he turned it down. Since MSF was a private army that held no particular alliance with anyone, there was really no need for an inspection. However, my father saw this as an opportunity to show the U.S government that MSF could be the "posterboys of world peace". Or that's what he thought he was doing at the time." He continued before pausing to take a breath.

"What happened?" Adam asked him curiously. Hal sighed deeply while squeezing the railing tight before he looked at Adam to answer. "He made a deal with a shadow group called XOF to take him away from MSF and continue his research with them elsewhere, but he was to make something, a weapon, for a man called Skull Face. He agreed and that's when Big Boss' private army, MSF, fell at the hands of, not XOF or... Cipher, but my father. Due to an inspection that acted as a smokescreen in order for MSF to be taken down." He answered with each word in a shaky tone.

Hal looked away from Adam to try and keep himself from shaking before he suddenly balled a fist and slammed it against the wall.

Adam just looked at Hal and kept silent to wait for him to continue. "I'm, uh... I'm sorry, Adam. But this is still something that I'm processing. So... I think it would be better if you were to see it all for yourself." Hal said without turning around, but Adam wasn't sure if that was such a good idea.

"Are you sure, Hal? I mean, if it was something that was meant for you, then maybe I shouldn't be looking into your business." He said, not wanting to impose, but then he heard Hal chuckle before he turned around to look at him. "Nonsense. I could tell you about all of it, but it would take up too much time and I imagine that you have other things that you want to attend to. I'll take you to the AI pod and it, or she, will explain everything. So, are you ready to go?" He asked Adam.

Adam was taken aback for a moment. Hal was so quick to get Adam to the R and D Platform that it was sudden, but there was something he wanted to get done first. And that was to check up on the person he had saved in Germany. "Um... you go on ahead, Hal. I'll meet you there. There's something I have to do first." He answered.

Hal blinked before smiling. "You want to check on Liza, don't you?" He asked.

Adam blinked.

"Liza? That's her name?" He asked. Hal just nodded with a chuckle. "Yeah, she's been with us for a few years now and she's one of the best soldiers I've seen in Diamond Foxes. I'm sure you'll be right up there with her though. We still have yet to see what you're fully made of, but you're showing a lot of promise." He said before walking past Adam.

He stops at the stairs then turns to look at him. "I'll go on ahead to the R and D Platform. You go check up on Liza. Besides, she's been wanting to meet the soldier who pulled her out of that Hell. I'll see you there, Adam." He said before walking down the steps to one of the Diamond Foxes transport trucks that is headed to the R and D Platform.

Adam walks down the steps himself and heads back inside the Medical Platform to find where Liza is and meet her officially while also checking to see how she is.

He asks one of the nurses to find out what room she's in then heads straight there when she answers. He walks up to the door that Liza is supposed to be in and knocks then waits.

"Come in." He hears then opens the door and walks in.

There on the medical bed is a young, light skinned woman with jet black hair eating a bowl of green Jell-O. "You don't see many people eating Jello anymore. It's a rare thing really." He says as he walks in and the young woman turns her head for him to see that she has chocolate brown eyes. She also appeared to be of Indian descent, but she looked confused for a moment.

She frowned before she spoke. "I'm sorry, but... who are you?" She asked while putting down the bowl on the table next to the bed.

"Don't apologize, I wasn't expecting you to remember me. You were unconscious when I got you out of the mansion." He answered as he stood with his hands in his pockets. That's when her eyes lit up after he answered. "The mansion...? Wait... are you Phantom?" She asked, almost hopefully.

Adam smiled and nodded. "My name is Adam Eagles, but Phantom is my codename. It's nice to meet you officially, Silent Phoenix." He answered.

It was Liza's turn to smile and nod. "Call me Liza Bawa, but just Liza please. And it's nice to meet you too, Phantom. Should I add Snake after that, or are you not there yet?" She asked him making Adam laugh and shake his head. "I'm, uh... not there yet. There's been a lot of things going on since I joined Diamond Foxes." He answered while he scratched the back of his head, but Liza continued to smile. "Regardless, I owe you one, Adam. Thank you. I've been told you went through Hell to get me out of there. It couldn't have been easy." She replied as she shifted herself to sit up in the bed.

Adam shook his head and sighed. "No, it wasn't and it wasn't because of you. It was a set up and a brilliant one at that." He admitted. "This... woman who goes by the name of Emily Clark was using you as bait to lure me out. She looked like she had a particular interest in me, just like Ricardo Gomez." He explained to her.

Liza looked away. "Clark and Gomez? I never would've imagined those two working together." She said with an angry frown making Adam look at her. "You know them?" He asked. She looked back at him and nodded. "Yes and no. I don't know them personally, but I know OF them by reputation only. They're real pieces of work, I'll tell you that." She admitted with a shake of her head making Adam nod his head. "Yeah, tell me about it. I was unfortunate enough to meet both of them within a week. I don't who I am going to despise more, Gomez or Clark. Probably Clark, most likely." He said with a sigh.

Liza looked at him in confusion. "Why are you sure it's her you're going to despise most?" She asked making Adam look at her with a frown. "Because she's taken some of my old comrades captive and turned them into something terrible. They're called the Skulls, now my old friends have become those monsters that will be used against us and I don't know if there is any chance to save them." He admitted.

Liza's eyes widened for a moment before she frowned, then she lowered her head. "I'm sorry. I've lost friends and comrades before to Gomez and Clark no doubt, but I don't think I've ever had to fight my own friends that were turned into... monsters. This must be a difficult time for you." She said with sincerity as she looked back up at him. "But I promise you, Adam, I will stand by you when the time comes for you to fight them. Me and all of Diamond Foxes will stand with you. And if there is even a small chance to save them from their fate, then we'll take it." She said to him with determination burning in her eyes.

Her declaration surprised Adam, but he felt relieved that he would have the likes of Liza standing by his side when the real fight begins. He smiled and nodded his head. "Thank you, Liza. That means a lot. And I'll stand with you too. As long as you have my back, I'll have yours." He said with a bright smile.

She smiled and nodded. "You got it, Adam."

Adam nodded again before turning around to head for the door. "I better get going. I need to meet Hal at the R and D Platform. I'll see you around, Liza." He said as he reached the door, but stopped and turned around to look at her one more time. "By the way, has anyone told you that you have a lovely accent?" He asked making her laugh and shake her head. "Nope. No one's ever told me that. I am from India after all, but you'd be the first to say that." She admitted.

"Well, I think it's beautiful. See you around, Liza Bawa." He said before opening the door and left.

Liza smiled softly and looked down at the floor before she let out a quiet giggle before picking up the bowl of Jell-O to finish it.

 _Meanwhile..._

"You fucking bruja!" Vulture yelled at Emily Clark, who was currently standing in front of him with a look of indifference on her face while the Skull transformed Lynn and the others were standing behind her. "You told me that you would bring back everyone, EVERYONE!!! And now I find out that the one experiment that we've been working on is now dead?! How the fuck is that possible?! Evan was supposed to be indestructible!" Vulture continued to shout.

"If you're quite done with your rant, Mr. Gomez then I will explain. It seems that our mutual friend Mr. Eagles, aka, Phantom, is a lot more resilient than I previously believed. He is a gifted one at that. And to survive that entire night while also saving Silent Phoenix was also impressive. I should've infected her with the parasite while had the chance, but I thought for sure that they would both die and be killed by that loud mouth, Evan, that night. I was mistaken." She explained while also admitting she underestimated Adam's ability to survive.

This caused Vulture to begin shouting again. "And now, because of your miscalculation or mistake, we've lost a potentially useful weapon to use against Thunder Rogue, Commander Silverburgh and their Diamond Foxes! But that's fine, because turning Adam to our side will be that much more sweeter when we have that PMC on their knees begging for their lives." He said with a hint of insanity in the tone of his voice.

Emily turned to look at him. "You intend to turn Adam to your side? Are you sure you're able to do that? He doesn't look the type to be easily swayed." She pointed out, but Vulture just looked at her with a smile on his face before looking at Lynn and the others.

"Maybe not, but I know that he will do whatever it takes to help them." He said pointing at Lynn and the others standing behind her. Emily looked at Lynn then back at Vulture. "You wanna use them to tug at his moral compass. That's... actually quite genius. But it may not work if we turn them all." She said.

Vulture just laughed. "I don't need all of them. Just one. And it's her." He said pointing to Lynn with a disturbing smile, but Emily wasn't so sure about his choice. "Lynn? Why her?" She asked making Vulture look at her with his crazed smile which unnerved her.

"Because before she "died" during her VR training session, she called out only to one person. One person she hoped would save her." He said, but Emily wasn't following. Then he explained as simple as possible.

"Adam and Lynn were once lovers." He said with a dark chuckle.


	20. Chapter20:DarkHistoryAndNewGear

**Disclaimer: I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.**

Adam walked out of the Medical building on the Medical Platform and used his radio to contact Hal. "Hal, I'm on my way to the R and D Platform. Should I meet you at the top where the AI Pod is?" He asked and waited for Hal to respond. _"Yeah. Let me know when you get to the platform and I'll meet you at the top of the building."_ He replied as Adam walked towards the next vehicle that was leaving the Medical Platform and headed towards the R and D Platform.

He hopped inside the vehicle as the driver started up the engine before heading towards his destination.

Along the way, Adam just sat back and enjoyed the view of the clear sky, the white clouds and the blue sea. "Man, it's not very often you get a view like this. Especially in the middle of the sea." He thought to himself with a smile on his face. "I could get used to seeing this view every day, but with my job, it might be a while before I can see it again after I get a new mission." He thought again as his transport arrived at its destination.

Adam hopped out of the vehicle and called Hal again on the radio. "Hal, it's me again. I'm at the R and D Platform. I'll see you at the top." He said into the radio and it wasn't long before Hal replied. _"Alright, you go on ahead. I'll meet you at the top."_ He said then cut the transmission.

Adam then made his way to the top of the platform to once again meet the AI pod. And he had to admit it, but only to himself, he was a little excited to meet the AI again. It's presence gave him a sense of trust and calmness when he was here last, but that didn't mean he would let his guard down around it. There was still a lot about the machine that he didn't know and it's history with the bases previous occupants.

But he shook all of those thoughts out of his head for the moment as he made it to the top of the platform and looked down into the giant square hole that was in the middle of the building.

 _"Hello, Phantom. It's been a while since we've seen each other. I'm glad you're recovering from your last mission."_ The AI said to him as he climbed down the ladder into the hole. Adam chuckled and walked towards it when he reached the end of the ladder. "Careful, Boss. You almost sounded like you were worried about me." He commented as he walked towards the pod.

 _"Actually, if you don't mind, I would like for you to call me Lori. I may be the Boss's AI, but I'm not her. She died a long time ago. So, the name of "Boss" doesn't really suit me. So, please, call me Lori, Phantom."_ The AI, now Lori, asked him as he stood near it on its little platform and leaned on the railing.

He nodded his head and smiled. "Alright, I'll call you whatever you want, but on one condition." He said holding one finger up.

 _"Of course. Please name it."_ Lori asked him politely.

"When I'm here on the base and not on mission, call me by my name. Adam. That's my condition." He requested. Then the red light blinked for a moment on the AI pod before it spoke again. _"Very well, Adam. Once again, I'm glad to see that you're recovering."_ The AI said to him with sincerity in its voice making Adam smile.

"Good, you're already up here." A voice from behind Adam said before he turned around.

Adam turned to see Hal just getting off from climbing down the ladder. "Yeah, Hal, I'm already here. What did you want me to come up here for anyway? Are you really sure you want to share your families history with me? It's kinda a private thing, you know?" Adam asked Hal with hesitation. Though he was glad that the scientist would trust him enough with something as sensitive as this, but he doesn't want to make Hal uncomfortable either if he doesn't want to talk about it.

Hal just smiled and shook his head. "I appreciate your respect for my privacy, Adam, but I think it would be best if you understand why I don't look up to my father as much anymore. Not like I used to." He answered.

Adam just remained silent and turned towards the AI pod, now named Lori. "Alright, Lori. Fill me in." He said making the AI blink once before it began to speak. _"Very well. It all started when my creator, Hal's mother, Doctor Vanessa Strangelove, created me to be the artificial intelligence of the Boss. The mother of the United States Special Forces and also the most legendary soldier before Big Bosses time. She was a brilliant and kind woman, when she wanted to be, but, she did not tolerate any nonsense from anyone. Especially Huey or Big Boss. However, her main reason for creating me was to understand why the Boss did what she did."_ Lori explained.

Adam looked confused. "And... what did she do, Lori?" He asked the AI. Lori hesitated for a moment before she answered. _"The Boss had defected to the Soviet Union in 1964 and joined forces with a man named Volgin."_ She answered making Adam's eyes widen in shock. "She did what?" He said in disbelief.

 _"Let me explain. Yes, she defected to the Soviets, but it was a ruse set up by the United States government so she could go undercover and retrieve from Volgin an item called the Philosophers Legacy. An item that digitally held enough money that would fund any United States project, including the Les Enfants Terribles project."_ Lori continued.

Adam thought for a moment. "Les Enfants Terribles? That's french. The terrible children? What's that got to do with anything?" He asked making Lori pause before answering. _"That particular project is the one that created David, Eli and George. You know them better as Solid Snake, Liquid Snake and Solidus Snake."_ She answered making Adam's eyes widen again.

 _"But that's... a story for another time. Let's focus on Huey, Hal and Vanessa. After the Boss sacrificed herself out of loyalty for the mission, or rather, the United States, Big Boss went underground for a while before re-emerging afterwards. During his time undergound, Vanessa created me in order to understand why the Boss sacrificed herself for the U.S. and for a decade she still couldn't understand why, until Big Boss came around. He was the last person to see the Boss because he..."_ The AI paused and hesitated. Hal lowered his head while Adam leaned forward to hear what the AI was going to say.

"What, Lori? He what?" He asked. The AI pod blinked before she finally answered. _"Big Boss was the one that killed the Boss and Vanessa wanted to figure out and understand, not just the Bosses decision, but also Big Bosses as well."_ She answered making Adam back away slightly.

But Lori continued. _"After some misunderstandings from both parties, Big Boss invited Vanessa to the MSF Motherbase as part of the R and D staff to create better equipment and gear for the soldiers."_

"When and where does Huey come into all of this?" Adam asked as he felt that the AI was a little sidetracked. _"Huey came into the picture and joined MSF after Big Boss rescued him from a man named Hot Coldman. It was after that that Vanessa joined MSF after some misunderstandings with Big Boss, but it all worked out between the three of them in the end. That is until after the Peacewalker Incident is when everything went to Hell."_ Lori answered making Adam back away more.

"Damn. The AI cussed? I thought they were above that?" He wondered before he asked. "What happened after the Peacewalker Incident, Lori?" He asked her.

But Lori didn't answer for a few minutes. Adam and Hal looked worried for a moment, but Hal knew why she was hesitating. It was a dark day for her. And not just her, every former MSF soldier, Big Boss, his mother, everyone.

After a while, Lori continued with her story. _"After the Peacewalker incident, Huey betrayed Big Boss and MSF a few months after. And he had help from a man that went by the name of Skull Face. After that, everything changed for everyone, including myself. And none of us were the same again."_

After that, Lori told her story of MSF becoming Diamond Dogs, Skull Face, Huey trying to trick and betray Big Boss again, a young man named Eli, the Skull parasites, Quiet, Salhelanthropus, Cipher and Big Boss actually being a doppelgänger while the real Big Boss was out in the world creating Outer Heaven.

She explained everything, but there were certain parts in her story that caught Adams interest the most.

"Lori, wait a minute. Who is Quiet and what did you mean that there was a Big Boss doppelgänger? I thought there was only one Big Boss?" He asked the AI.

 _"There is one Big Boss. Just one. But the second Big Boss was a doppelgänger of his and Ocelots creation. The doppelgänger was a former MSF soldier and was one of Big Bosses best. If not THE best next to Big Boss himself. He, during his time as the Diamond Dogs CO, went by the codename Venom Snake."_ She explained. Adam nodded. "And Quiet? Who was she?" He asked.

Lori paused again.

 _"She... that one... is too long a story, Adam. Maybe when you're ready."_ She answered, but this made Adam raise an eyebrow. "What do you mean when I'm ready?" He asked her. _"I will explain when the time is right, Adam. You have my word."_ She answered him with sincerity.

But Adam narrowed his eyes, then he sighed and nodded his head. "Alright, Lori. I'll wait. Is there anymore to the story that I should know?" He asked her, but the light on the AI pod just blinked once. _"No, Adam, that is all for now. Any information to continue my story is currently not available to me since I was cut off from the mainland and stuck at sea for over 50 years. Any further access to current information is also unavailable at this moment. I will have to receive quite the hardware update in order to function better than I have now. I trust that all of you will help me with that when that time is available."_ Lori answered him.

Adam just smiled. "I don't know how I'll be able to help with that since I'm not exactly tech savy, but I'm sure Hal, Sunny and Carla will be more than happy to lend a hand and give you a nice upgrade." He said to her with a bright smile.

 _"Yes. I would like that very much, Adam. Hal, would this be ok with you?"_ Lori asked the scientist timidly making Hal smile. "Of course it's alright, Lori. I'm happy to be of help for my mothers friend." He said walking up to the AI pod and giving it a pat.

Then suddenly a voice could be overheard throughout the base.

 _"Phantom, please report to the Command Platform immediately. Repeat, will Phantom please report to the Command Platform immediately?"_

Adam sighed. "Well, Hal, I gotta go. You and Lori take care." He said while walking over to the ladder. Hal looked at him and waved. "See ya, Phantom."

 _15 minutes later, Command Platform..._

Adam hopped out of the transport vehicle and made his way to the platforms Command room where he first met the AI pod, Lori. When he walked in, he examined the room around him and smiled slightly. The place looked fresher and cleaner than it was the last time he was here just like the rest of the base outside... and he still couldn't figure that out.

"Adam, my boy! It's good to see you up and about." Shouted Rogue as he walked into the room and embraced Adam in a bear hug making Adam groan in slight pain. "Ugh... it's good to see you too, Boss... but I can't really breathe here and... I'm still kinda recovering, you know?" He strained out as Rogue quickly let go of him and patted his shoulder. "I apologize, tovarishch, but I'm glad you're recovering." He said with a bright smile.

He then walked over to the main computer and presented the room in an exaggerated fashion. "Well, what do you think? It's a far cry from what it was before, eh?" He asked with a smirk on his face. Adam just smiled. "Yeah, it's definitely a lot cleaner now than it was before, but here's what I still don't understand." He thought out loud. "What's that, my boy?" The Russian man asked.

"How on Earth could you, Meryl and the other Diamond Foxes member have possibly cleaned this place up after my first visit? It was going on 24 hours when I was here last? How did you get rid of the rust without the base collapsing?" Adam asked, but his question just made Rogue smile.

He walked behind Adam and pulled out a device from one of the cabinets. It was jrt black in color and it resembled a little bit like a rifle but it had no barrel and no magazine slot.

"This, my friend, was the device, among many, that helped us get rid of the rust from the base. The Artificial Intelligence pod helped cooked this up and mass produced it in a short amount of time so we could get to work on cleaning up the base and making the metal healthy and strong again. And so far, it's done a marvelous job." He said before tossing it to Adam, who caught it and examined it.

"Nice design. Is it modeled after the Police M4?" He asked, but Rogue shook his head. "Close, but not quite. It's modeled after a rifle, yes, but the AI didn't make it to resemble a certain type of rifle. It just made it and handed it to us to patch the place up. We are essentially guests in its home after all." He explained making Adam nod in understanding before he tossed the device back to the CO.

Rogue put it away back in the cabinet then looked back at Adam with a look of seriousness. "Now, let's get to business. First off, and I know you're still recovering, but are you fit to go back out into the field?" He asked. Adam stood in attention and answered. "Sir, the doctors say that I should have a few more days rest, but they've cleared me to go back out to the field." Rogue stared at him for a moment then nodded his head.

"Sir, if I may, where is Commander Silverburgh?" Adam then asked.

This made Rogue pause and lower his head. "Meryl has... Meryl has asked for a temporary leave of absence, Adam. After what happened at the previous base, she decided it would be best if she took some time off to clear her head. However, she's assured me that she will be back once she's rested up." He answered as he began to walk back and forth.

Adam didn't understand why Meryl would want to leave, but he left the matter alone for the moment.

"Now, secondly, some members of the R and D team have decided that the equipment you have now is irrelevant. So, they've come to a decision to give you some upgraded equipment as well as a new suit. Your very first sneaking suit. A prototype, but it's pure next generation state of the art. You should head to back to the R and D platform to see what new equipment they have for you. And thirdly, you will have a new mission for you after you've suited up. Check your iDroid after you've received your gear. Is that clear?" He asked with a commanding tone.

Adam nodded his head and answered. "Sir, yes, sir!"

"Dismissed."

Adam saluted Rogue and proceeded out of the room and back down to the transport vehicle to head back to the R and D platform.

 _15 minutes later, back at the R and D Platform..._

Adam had returned back to the R and D platform to see Sunny waiting for him. He hopped out of the transport vehicle and walked up to her to see her smiling. "Hey, Adam. I'm glad to see you walking around." She said as she hugged him. He smiled and hugged her back. "So am I, Sunny. It's good to get away from the Medical platform and see the new base and I gotta say, the view of this place is nice. I didn't have time to take it in the last time I was here." He admitted.

Sunny nodded and patted his back. "Yeah, last time you were here you were up against the Fenrirs. And on this platform no less. It's almost scary to think about that they were patrolling the outside and inside this platform. We're all looking over our shoulders and jumping at every little sound thinking that it's one of them, but we'll get used to this place soon enough." She said with a smile before she clapped her hands together. "Now, let's get to business. You ready to see what Carla and I have cooked up for you?" She said with glee.

Adam smiled and nodded his head. "You know it." He said as she took his hand and lead him inside the platform.

The lights inside of the platform looked at little dim, but there was enough light inside to tell which equipment was which. Adam saw Carla and John standing next to a computer as they walked up to them.

"Adam! Hey! Good to see you again. You had us worried for a while." John said as he reached out to shake Adams hand. "Yeah, I know. I was worried myself for a while, but Liza and I pulled through." Adam nodded as Carla walked up to him and gave him a quick hug before she went back to work on her project.

"So, what have you and Carla got for me, Sunny." He asked making Sunny motion for him to follow her and pointed towards her workbench. "Carla is putting the final touches on the suit, so, while she's doing that, I'll show you what new gear we have for you." She said before pulling out a large briefcase.

She carried over to a large table and placed it on top of it with a loud thud before opening it. Inside were three weapons, one of which looked like an upgraded 45. caliber gun.

Adams eyes widened as he marveled at the weapons. Sunny snapped her fingers twice waking him from his trance. "Hey, I know these are nice, but try to focus, huh?" She said to him with a giggle while he nodded his head.

"Fist off..." She said pulling out the 45. caliber gun. "This is a tactical M1911. Your other M1911 was busted when you can back to the base unconscious. Carla salvaged what she could from it and remade it to where it's now more durable. So, you should thank her before you leave for your next mission. And speaking of..." She paused as she pulled out an iDroid next.

"We gave your iDroid an upgrade to make it more durable too like your new 1911 as well as a special update. It wasn't as busted as the 1911, but it was still in pretty bad shape. Also, it can now sense when an invisible or distant enemy is nearby. Unfortunately it can't pinpoint exactly where they are. You'll still have to use your Int-Scope to mark them or use Thermal goggles to find them." She said handing it to him. He took it in his hand with a nod and strapped it to his belt.

"Now..." She continued as she brought out a jet black sniper rifle. "This is a SOCOM 16 M1A Sniper Rifle. Carla likes to call it the Venom Wave." She explained, but Adam looked confused. "Why Venom Wave?" He asked.

This made Sunny pulled out a small case that held the magazines for the rifle. She opened it and pointed to them.

There were 3 magazines. 2 of them had two different colored stripes painted around them on the side. One was blue, for tranquilizer rounds. The other was a lime green color, but Adam has never seen a color like that painted on a magazine. "Ok, one of them isn't painted, so, those are obviously live rounds. The other one has a painted blue stripe, those are tranquilizer rounds, but what about the third one, Sunny? What does that color indicate?" He asked her pointing to the magazine with the lime green stripe.

"The lime green color stipe on this magazine has venom rounds, Adam." She answered making his eyes widen. "Venom rounds?" He asked. She nodded.

"What possessed you and Carla to come up with something as sinister as that?" He asked her in shock, but she just shrugged. "We wanted to try something a little different and have someone test it out in the field. We were originally going to have Liza test them out. She's the best sniper in Diamond Foxes, but she's going to be out of the action for a while. So, who better to test the venom rounds than you, Adam?" She answered with a smile.

Adam just smirked and shook his head. "Alright, so what's next?" He asked.

Sunny then pulled out another jet black weapon, but instead of a sniper rifle, it was an assault rifle. "Now, this one here is an LVOA-C assault rifle. I named this one Lady Liberty." She said as she handed it to Adam who examined it before holding it up to look through the green optic sight. "Sunny, this is nice. Can it be customized?" He wondered making her nod her head. "Yep. You can customize it any way you want to. After you get back from your next mission of course. You should take a look at it after we show you your sneaking suit. Speaking of which..." She paused then motioned Adam to follow her again.

He put the assault rifle back in the case with the Venom Wave and 1911 before he followed her to a large shaped pod where John and Carla were standing.

"Adam, I'm not gonna lie, this exciting. I can't wait to see what this thing looks like. It's still a prototype, but if it's Sunny and Carla, I'm sure it's going to be a top notch piece of work." John said as Adam walked up to him making him smile.

Sunny and Carla stood on opposite sides of the pod with wide smiles on their faces before Sunny looked over at Carla. "Carla, would you do the honors please?" She asked. Carla nodded quickly and almost giggled as she flipped a switch to open the pod. "Adam, say hello to the prototype of the next generation sneaking suit. The Shadow Hunter sneaking suit." Carla presented as the pod opened.

Smoke bellowed out of the pod as it opened to reveal an all black suit with navy blue accents in some places that looked like blood veins. The suit looked form fitting, but it also looked bulky enough to where it looked lean. What caught Adams eyes most was the suits mask or helmet. It looked like a combination of a U.S Air Force mask and a U.S Army helmet, but it was the masks eyes that really drew him in. They were narrow with a bright yellow color to give it a look of intimadation and he like it.

"THIS is what I'm going to be wearing in the field? Awesome." He said making Sunny and Carla smile. "So, is the whole suit ready?" He asked. Then Carla's smile faded away as she walked up to stand beside Adam. "Unfortunately, only the suit is ready. Sunny and I are still putting the finishing touches on the mask. We were hoping to get it ready for you before your next mission, but there's still some bugs and glitches we need to work out." She said while looking at him with an apologetic look, but Adam just smiled.

"Don't worry about it, Carla. I'll make due with the suit for a while. I'm still excited to take it out for a test run." He said with his arms crossed making Carla smile again. "Well, try it on, Phantom. Let's see how it looks." She said.

Adam looked at her with a smile and walked towards the pod to remove the suit and left to try it on.

"Do you need any help putting it on, Adam? I'll be happy to help." Sunny called out to him with a wink at Carla and John making the girl blush and John chuckle. "No thanks, Sunny. Better luck next time." Adam responded making Sunny playfully snap her fingers with a laugh.

John shook his head and pulled out his own iDroid. "Well, as much as I would like to see how the suit looks, I need to go. I just got a new mission." He said to the two girls. "Do you have any details?" Sunny asked making John nod. "Only one that really matters. Jack the Ripper." He answered.

Sunny and Carla looked at him with worried looks. "John, are you sure? You barely managed to get away last time." She reminded him, but he just shook his head. "I know, Sunny, but that was only because I thought he was my dad. Now that I know he's not, I have no reason to hold back, other than bringing the body back here." He said making Sunny and Carla look at him in shock.

"Bring the body here? You're going to bring Jack the Ripper to the motherbase?" Carla asked looking at like he's crazy making him nod. "If we're going to put my dad back in his rightful place? Then yes, I have to. I don't have all the details yet, but I'm sure that Boss will fill you both in soon. I'll see you later. He said before turning around to leave the platform.

"John?" Carla called out to him making him stop and turn his head to look at her. "Please be careful." She said.

He smiled and nodded his head before walking again to the exit.

"Hey, where's John going?" Adam asked from behind them.

They turned around to see Adam now wearing the suit. This made Sunny smile and Carla blush again. "Looks good on you, Adam." She said with a nod. Adam nodded back and moved his limbs around to break the suit in a bit. "It's a little snug in some places and there is a lot of pressure on my torso." He explained.

"Relax, Adam. The suit was designed to be like the Skull suit and Solid Snakes suit during the Shadow Moses Incident. The pressure on your torso and everywhere else is meant to prevent blood loss if you're ever seriously injured. It's also an optic camo suit." Sunny explained as she walked up to him, took his hand and placed it on one of the orange computer modules that sat in the room.

Then suddenly his suit changed from black to orange, but both he and Sunny didn't like it. "That is not a flattering color on you." She admitted as he removed his hand and the suit went back to its default black. "Yeah, I didn't like that either, but it's optic camo. So, that's going to be helpful in the long run. You and Carla keep surprising me at every turn, Sunny." He said to her making both girls smile.

"And you keep surprising us when you keep surviving even when the odds are stacked against you. In my opinion, Adam, you may earn the title of Snake before you know it. And it'll be rightfully earned when you do." Carla said to him with a smile making Sunny nod in agreement. "Thanks, Carla. That means a lot." Adam replied before he walked over to the weapons case, closed it then pulled out his iDroid.

"Alright, let's see where I'm going next." He wondered as he pressed one of the buttons to bring up the iDroids holographic map.

"Afghanistan?" He said out loud. Sunny and Carla looked at each other in confusion before they walked over to stand beside Adam and look at the map. "Why is Rogue sending you to Afghanistan?" Carla asked, but Adam and Sunny just shrugged their shoulders. "I don't know, but I think it's best that I don't ask. I'll find out on my way there." He said pressing the same button again to deactivate the map then headed towards the exit of the platform, but then he stopped. "Hey, Sunny, since I'm going to Afghanistan, does this suit have a built in cooling system?" He asked.

Sunny nodded. "Yes, yes, it does. Don't worry, you'll be fine. Now, get going before Rogue says anything." She answered making him nod and start walking again.

Adam had left the room as Carla turned away from Sunny to think. This made Sunny look at her. "What's on your mind Carla?" She asked, but Carla just shook her head. "I'm trying to figure out why the Boss would send Adam to Afghanistan. There's been no activity from there for many years. It doesn't make sense." She answered.

"Well, whatever he's thinking, I'm sure Rogue has a reason to send Adam there. There must be something more going on that we can't see, but the Boss can. We'll find out soon enough. I know that much." Sunny said to her before turning around to get back to work on her other projects, but stopped to place her hand on Carlas shoulder.

"Don't worry, Carla. I'm sure Adam will be fine. He's proven himself to be as capable as any other soldier of Diamond Foxes. He'll be back." She said to Carla with a smile making the girl look back at her friend and smile.

Sunny walked away back to her workbench, but Carla still looked unsure.

"I still don't like it. Something feels off." She whispered before walking back to her own workbench to continue her own work.


End file.
